Lost between a fairy and leafs
by rinsegaku
Summary: It was a usual job, and they had completed the mission, but something weird happened and then both found themselves in a weird place they never were before... or that is what Naruto Dragneel thinks, while Kurama tries to find a way to return to Earthland before someone spots them and force Naruto Uzumaki to return, with all the glory and pain that name brings
1. A warm welcome

**(A/N): I'm baaaack! after two weeks (I think) of being practically kidnapped on the beach (and I don't mean a nice house on the beach, or in a nice city near the beach) I'm finally back in civillization (yay!) but if I have to be sincere, it wasn't that bad, until I realized that all we had for food was whatever we could fish, but meh... I'm uploading this as soon as I reached my computer, so don't get cranky those who expected an upload of "Rescuing our Future", I wished to upload this for new year's eve so this first chapter was ready to go while the third chapter of the other fic not, but I hope next week it will be up :D.**

**Oh and this is Jarvis, my new slav... emmm, assistant, say hi Jarvis**

**"You do realize that calling me like that is overused and not funny right? There's also the fact that I'm not real, and just an invention of your twisted mind, I might add"**

**Meh, it works for me... whatever, he's going to be the narrator for this fic, and deppending on what a good job he does I might think on expanding his contract to the other fic or firing him before chapter 3**

**"You can't make contracts with fictional people segaku... (sigh) why do I even bother?"**

**I ask the same myself... ON WITH THE STORY :D (Sadly I don't own Naruto nor Fairy Tail, if I did Naruto would be Rokudaime, instead of Kakashi, and Natsu would be able to use dragon force at will)**

**Update 09/02/2015: Well, I had some time and got dried of ideas, so I checked and corrected some mistakes or grammar atrocities here, at least the ones I found, not much but meh, small things can make this easier to read I think :D**

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><p>Chapter 1: A Warm Welcome<p>

It was a wonderful day in the forest of the Land of Fire, the sun was up and warm, but the wind blew swiftly in cool and refreshing waves, almost caressing the leaves in the trees as it passed through them. The birds were singing happily on the branches enjoying the peaceful feeling surrounding them…(sigh) it was indeed a most youthful day…wait, did I just?…where did that?... meh…Like I was saying, it was a great day. The keyword is 'was' because in a few more seconds a loud scream is going to ruin the almost dreamy beauty of it.

"NANIIIIII?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY SUCK UP?!"

Yup, there goes the birds, flying away, startled, and the peaceful atmosphere is now all but ruined. Screw the perfect day thanks to a blonde idiot… (Sigh). Now, I guess we need to see what said blonde idiot is doing right? Oh don't mind the sexy and good looking narrator here and keep reading the rest of the story with… (Cell phone starts ringing) Oh? Wait a sec please… (Answers the phone) Yeah? I was…what do you mean by…so I can't…fire me if I keep it? Well, fine…(ends call) Humph, killjoy…well it seems I can't break the 4th wall otherwise I get kicked out, so I guess I'll keep with the regular standards and avoid contact with you and any character here to let you enjoy the plot. Ha! My talent wasted again…well anyway, back to the idiot.

A teenager came out to a clearing, his messy and spiky sun-kissed blonde hair almost shining with the sun, he has blue cerulean eyes and three whisker-like marks on each cheek. He is wearing a sleeveless orange trimmed dark blue waist coat, open and not tucked, exposing his bare chest showing a muscular and toned torso, not bulky but lean, built mostly for speed than brute force. He's wearing black knee-length trousers, a thick orange wristband on his right wrist and black open-toed sandals, a white scaled scarf rolled around his neck, and a weird looking symbol tattooed on his right bicep on orange color…Okay, whoever wrote this has no imagination, I mean…come on! It's clearly the same frigging outfit of…(cell phone rings with a text message alert) Now what?! (Reads message and moans) Fine! I'll shut up now! Happy? (Sigh) ahem…

By his side is a chibi kitsune with red-orange fur covering its body, black rings around its red silted pupil eyes, three tails swinging on his rear and two small angel-like wings sprouting from his back kept it floating besides his companion.

"So that's pretty much what happened after those guys from the dark guild managed to get you inside that carriage and I had to rescue you, Naruto." the chibi fox said.

"Humph, I really hate transportation, Kurama."

"I bet you do…but it's kinda lame that you and Natsu are the only dragon slayers with motion sickness on the guild."

"Shut up fuzzball, it must have something to do with how powerful we are…and Wendy is just immune to it."

"Yeah, sure, keep saying that to yourself and maybe one day you'll believe it." The small fox snorted at the unconscious jab there, but didn't mentioned it.

"Whatever, so after you rescued me…USING A FRIGGIN' MASSIVE BALL OF FIRE!"

"Hey! You are immune to fire attacks remember? I'm sure that if you were conscious you would have just eaten it."

"Point taken…well, after that you say a massive thing in the sky, similar to an Anima, appeared and sucked only both of us?"

"Pretty much yeah, we appeared here, free falling. I managed to grab you before you crashed on the ground, and about half and hour later you woke up."

"Hmmm…you say it was similar to an Anima, but we destroyed the machine that created them on Edolas, and Mystogan promised to never make something like that ever again…could have him broken his promise?"

"Nah, he seemed serious about that, besides the similarities between what brought us here and an Anima ended in the looks, even the energy there felt…different…and right now we are in a forest. I don't remember any forest on Edolas, and I don't feel any Eternano around us either."

"True…could this be another world without magic? We need to find a way to return home pronto, Natsu-nii will get worried when he returns as an S-class mage and we are not there to greet him."

"You mean _if_ he returns as an S-class mage."

"Come on Kurama, we trained really hard that week before the trial to become strong enough for him to get the promotion…But, I still think that lightning and fire form of his is really broken. I wonder if Laxus would let me eat one of his bolts."

"Yeah, sure, and then he would train you personally…" Kurama said rolling it's eyes, "But why he didn't teamed up with you then? I mean, I don't have anything against Happy, but besides flying I don't see how much help he can give Natsu."

"If we both have teamed up there wouldn't have been much challenge don't you think? We are quite overkill together, and I can only imagine the old man and Gildarts stopping us then, but chances of us fighting any of them were as low as Erza's temper."

"Point taken."

"Besides, this is a way to test ourselves, if we are strong enough to make S-class by ourselves then we will be able to find Igneel in no time!" he finished with a big smile.

"That's the dragon twins for you, no way but the hard one…well, can you use magic? If this is like Edolas then only I will be able to, and that can make our return quite…hard."

"True." nodded Naruto, "We could only use magic there after Mystogan gave us those weird pills…guess there is only one way to try it, _Karyuu no_…" he inhaled deeply and puffed his cheeks while forming a trumpet with his hands in front of his mouth, seeing this, Kurama's eyes widened and he tried to stop him, but he reacted too late, "… _Hooko_!"

Naruto breathed out and a magic seal appeared in front of his hands making the breath turn into a big stream of fire coming out, burning everything on it's wake…and starting a forest fire.

"Naruto, you baka…" said Kurama while face…pawing? "You had to use that in the middle of a forest right?"

"Hehehe…sorry?" he answered while scratching the back of his head and grinning sheepishly, and then he noticed that the fire was spreading. Fast. "I suggest we make our escape now, before someone sees us and blame us for this."

"I second that!" said Kurama already half way out of the clearing.

"Oi! Wait for me!" shouted Naruto running after his friend until they both disappeared from eyesight.

Unknown to them, a silhouette shot out of a nearby tree branch after spying their conversation and darted to a village not too far from there, a shimmer of light through the trees revealed silver colored hair.

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><p>Tsunade Senju was not having a nice day. The Godaime Hokage was anchored to her desk with a shitload of paperwork, the council had had a meeting sometime earlier to decide who would be the new advisors…well, more like only be informed of their names, she had already decided who they would be, and there was no way in hell she would let that damned council overrule her now, she had had enough of that the first time around.<p>

Koharu Utatane and Homura Mikotado…two old geezers, too old to see the world on the new light that time brought in with it's pass. They were the old advisers and teammates of the dead Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, wise on their own time and with war experience that backed their position. Besides of being tutored by the Shodaime and Nidaime Hokages themselves along with their teammate Danzo Shimura, they had a close relation with the dead Sandaime, but there was not much they could offer on this time. They were far past their prime to be in active force, and their knowledge was better suited to education of the new generations, more than ruling the village.

Despite their influential position, they were the easier ones to remove from the council. Using loopholes on the laws of the village and taking on count their age it was easy to convince them to leave, with a promise of retirement with honors, a generous monthly pension as a token of gratitude for their long service to the village and a place in the academy that allowed them to tutor the teachers with themes that they deemed worthy of reviewing in the annual school curriculum.

Well, it was either that or be kicked out to a retirement house with an honorific mention for their service to the village, so there was no much choice for them, and even if the second option was really appealing to Tsunade, Shikamaru 'advised' that it would bring more benefits to their goals to let them think they still got an important position.

It was Danzo the one who brought them the most trouble.

At the beginning, it was easy to gather evidence against him and ROOT because, unlike the last time, they knew exactly what and where to look for information, but the old war hawk was no fool and quickly noticed the leaks of information about his secret division.

So, he started to take even more cautions around him while avoiding being under the spotlight…it took nearly two years to finally get enough evidence to confront him without worries of him getting an upper hand over them in political fields.

"Damn him and those stolen eyes." grunted Tsunade, remembering the fight in which he escaped along with some of his more loyal soldiers.

The first time Sasuke took him out of the game, thankfully before the war exploded, with him the outcome would have been worse than it was, but now said boy only had 15 years at the time, and even with the help of the Eternal Magenkyo (no clue as to how the eye evolved despite not having the transplant this time) and a quite wide repertoire of jutsus, they could only get him so far with his lack of stamina and reserves that he had years ago…or years ahead should it be?

It was necessary for the intervention of every one of their little group to take care of him and his little circus, but they managed to deal with him without making him suspicious about their 'status' and make him flee the village along with a promise of returning to make sure that Konoha would get it's true place among the other villages… yeah sure, and she would let Jiraya fight the Six Paths of Pain alone again.

But, that was not what made her feel depressed right now, it was the date itself that provoked her bad mood. When they returned after their little experiment with the Hiraishin seal array, they found out that they were on the time when Naruto went after Sasuke, the first time on the retrieval mission fiasco.

Sure, they all knew that Naruto had bought time for them stalling Madara enough for the seal to work and then jumping in, not after being seriously injured by said Uchiha, disrupting his chakra enough to provoke an unpleasant side effect for the jutsu on him if the pain screams were any indication. But, all of them still held hopes of greeting both Naruto and Sasuke when they felt a faint trail of Chakra reaching the village doors from a distance along with Kakashi, sadly only one boy returned this time again, one with black instead of blonde hair.

What depressed her was that, today would end the time that Jiraya took to train said blonde the first time, and that today both pervert and Jinchuuriki would be returning to the village after a 3 year long training mission...not that many people would know it, for them it was just that she was extra pissed off by the mountains of paperwork she had to endure on a daily basis.

Search parties were sent every week leaded by every one of the travelers, she included, to look for the blonde idiot that made possible for them this second chance despite what he had to endure those last weeks. Even as Hokage she would not let pass a chance to look for her little brother, but so far no sign of him appearing showed to them, and slowly hope started to leave her as the years passed by…she would never stop searching, but sometimes she wondered if she would see the gaki ever again…

"Tsunade-sama," the woman stretched her arm to punch whoever caught her unaware, and instantly a log was turned into splinters by the punch.

Once she regained her composure, she noticed a pale Kakashi staring her from a corner of the office.

"If it's not good news about the search party for Naruto that you commanded today, Kakashi, better get out of my sight, I'm not in the mood to have small chat…at least not today."

Remembering why he was here, and silently thanking his foresight in hiding that log in the office for situations like this one, Kakashi straightened himself and stepped to the desk to inform Tsunade of his findings, "I found him Tsunade–sama." he said with an eye smile.

"I told you that if it wasn't about…" she stopped herself from cracking her knuckles when the words finally registered on her mind and blinked, then blinked again and voiced the only rational question her mind provided her at the moment, tilting her head to a side in a very Naruto-ish way, "Huh?"

Kakashi resisted the urge to roll his eye, true she was the strongest kunoichi and best medic-nin in the entire elemental nations, but right now she looked as clueless as a fresh genin in the middle of a battlefield, "I said that I finally found Naruto, he was in the-"

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><p>"WHERE THE HELL IS HE?!" the scream could be heard all around Konoha and in the near forests.<p>

This made 6 people and a small fox turn their heads towards the source, 5 of them immediately recognized what it meant and ran as fast as they could towards the Hokage tower. The blonde teenager running in the forest away from a massive fire just shrugged it as his imagination and kept running, while the small fox, Kurama, stopped dead on his tracks for a second and floated on his place, "Was that…?"

He was pulled out of his musing by a hand pulling him farther away from the raging fire, and he heard Naruto telling him to fly faster, clearly not noticing that he was now dragging him, and then he decided to put that on his mind for later.

* * *

><p>Kakashi just sighed and waited for everyone else to arrive, after calming Tsunade of course, which caused to unseal at least half a dozen of logs he had in a scroll to aid in emergencies during battles or situations like this…he should consider making sealed logs part of the standard Konoha nin gear when in missions away from the forests of Konoha...<p>

Anyways, in less than a minute, 5 other people entered the office, each one voicing their own questions quite loudly, trying to make their own sound louder than the others.

He just hoped to discuss this matter privately with Tsunade and keep it a secret from the others until they could say with certainty what that weird energy he was emanating was…it felt really similar to chakra, but there was also something else…and that weird technique he used to set the forest on fire, did he called it magic?

And, there was also the matter about that people he was talking about while talking to that small fox…that had three tails, and looked really similar to the giant fox that attacked the village so many years ago and was supposedly sealed inside the boy. Where had he been all this time? And why was the fox so damn cute?!

"KAKASHI!"

The shout from Tsunade woke him up from his inner debate to face the said woman glaring at him and releasing enough Killer intent to make even Orochimaru shiver.

"Where. Did. You. Find. Him."

"I…ehh…THE FOREST!" Kakashi shouted frantically, under the effect of the heavy dose of killing intent that was directed towards him, not only from Tsunade, but from every person present there, all clearly annoyed from being forced to wait for information about Naruto.

Once the pressure lifted enough to let the Cyclops breath normally again, he explained further, "I found him in the forest, but he escaped before I could contact him after setting the area on fire with a strange fire jutsu that-"

"Fire?" asked Sasuke getting the attention of everyone in the room, "Since when did the dobe learn to use Katon release? Last time I checked he was very proficient with Fuuton, but far from capable with other elements."

"I'm not sure that was an elemental release at all Sasuke, the energy he used on it was different, and there was also this weird seal that materialized out of nowhere…"

"Kakashi, are you sure this was Naruto?" Tsunade asked in a serious tone, regaining the attention of all the present there.

"Positively, all the physical treats are still there, the hair, the eyes, even the whisker marks on his cheeks…he still is a carbon copy of Minato-sensei. But that fire I told you about was quite big, no doubt he will have big problems once he is back for causing it."

He then smiled and said in a more casual and lazy tone, "He stills does things before even thinking about it…guess that never will change huh?"

Everyone chuckled at this, remembering how Naruto was before war times, and sometimes even during it.

"We can discuss how an idiot he is once you bring him back, but first take care of the fire. We now know he is in the near forest and we'll have Hinata search him more efficiently. Level the terrain so I can send Tenzo later to regrow it, or leave it as a clearing depending on the situation and size it is found in, then don't return unless you bring the gaki back."

"If that's really him, I don't think he will need an escort to return here…troublesome blonde." Shikamaru mumbled showing extreme boredom at the idea, but those who knew him well (say, the other 6 in the room) could tell that he was relieved that finally, after so many years, their friend would return.

Only after Tsunade dismissed the group, she allowed herself to drop the business face she wore to deal with missions and things the matter and let a smile draw itself in her lips. This would mean more paperwork than she would be comfortable with once Naruto was finally back so he would be reinstated as a citizen and a ninja on Konoha, but for first (and only) time on her life, she would gladly deal with it if it meant that her little brother would finally be home again. They had a lot to make up with him but she was sure he would forgive them with time and everything would be fine once again.

Shizune entered the room little later answering her calling with a notepad on hand, "Go to the village and bring here the rest of Naruto's graduation class as well as Jiraya, Teuchi and Ayame Ichikaru, Iruka and I guess Konohamaru and Inari might also wish to be here. Every one you consider would be glad to hear that Naruto has finally returned."

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><p>Naruto was not a prideful person (snort) but he always praised himself for small feats during his life. One of them was that he considered himself a quite intelligent guy that, unlike his older brother Natsu, would think and analyze his would be opponent before engaging a battle, or at least do that most of the time…okay, okay, he would at least try to restrain himself enough to ask for a friendly fight with whoever he deemed strong enough to face him. But hey, at least he would ask, that was better than what Natsu does, jumping to the guy with a flaming punch ready to strike.<p>

That explains the situation we find Naruto and Kurama in right now. After escaping for a while, Naruto's enhanced nose caught a weird scent, one that was new to him, no doubt about it, but somehow it felt…homey? But that was impossible since he was sure he never put a foot in this place before, so feeling curious he followed the trail of the scent back to the still spreading fire, and what he saw there made him giddy and excited, barely managing to restrain himself from engaging all of the people there in a fight at the same time.

First, a girl with long blue hair and weird eyes started a series of weird signs with her hands and the next moment a _huge _dragon made of water appeared out of nowhere and crashed in the middle of the fire with a thunderous roar, extinguishing the flames almost totally.

Then, another girl with pink hair (huh? Is Natsu a girl in this place?) did another chain of those weird signs and slammed her palm on the ground. Not a second later, the whole part of the forest that was still on fire and affected by the force of the attack of that water dragon shifted and covered itself on more earth, leaving only a flat terrain with no signs of destruction. That display reminded him when he and his guild mates teamed up with other guilds and they met Juura of the saint wizards, and he saw how his earth magic worked.

If those two girls could do that, then what could the other guys do? Wait, that girl summoned a dragon made of water out of nowhere…was she also a dragon slayer? Why she didn't smelled like dragons? Was she like Laxus and had a lacrima on her? Could she…could she know where Igneel was?

The train of thoughts was different on Kurama's head; 'Sasuke, Hinata, Shikamaru, Lee, and Sakura…I knew this was a familiar place, and that scream from before, no doubt that was Tsunade…this is bad.'

'If we are here now then that means…no…that can't happen! He has a life in Earthland already, friends, family…he can't lose that only to pass through hell again here. We must keep away from them and find some way to return home.'

Turning his head to his blonde companion, he started to talk, not even paying attention if he was still there, "Hey, do you-"

Gone. Naruto was gone, and after searching for him with his head he couldn't help but face…paw? And fly towards him, thinking on what to do now.

"What was that? It was sooo cool, are you a water mage like Juvia? Are you a dragon slayer too? Where is your dragon? Why don't you smell like dragons? Do you have a lacrima on you like Laxus? Do you know where Igneel is? Fight me!"

Hinata did not understand what the hell was going on. One second she was using a Suiryuudan to extinguish the forest fire, and the next second this weird looking guy with blonde spiky hair was…wait, blonde spiky hair?

"Naruto, let them be…I bet she didn't understood a word of what you said, well apart from you demanding a fight I guess…(sigh) I can't figure out how you manage to say so much in just one breath." the flying fox said, shaking it's head with a paw still on it's head, "And that is not the right way to ask for a spar, can't you learn something from Erza?"

"Erza is scary…and asking/demanding is still better than jumping straight over with a flaming punch or kick like Natsu-nii does." Naruto answered, crossing his arms over his chest and pouting.

"Point taken."

"Besides, you also saw how she summoned that water dragon!" he said, pointing with one finger to Hinata, making her blush a bit, "That was soooooo cool!" he said happily with glitter around his face and stars on his eyes, "Maybe she knows where Igneel is."

"I highly doubt it, kit…better be going now, we still need to find a way to return home and we don't have even the slightest idea of where we are now."

"Oh yeah, true…sorry 'bout the fire." he said to Hinata's group while scratching the back of his head sheepishly, an action that everyone on that group missed greatly.

"I hope your… errr… forest grows up again, bye." he finished, shooting his trademark foxy grin and waved a hand goodbye to them before turning around and start walking into the forest talking casually with Kurama.

"Oi dobe, where are you going? Tsunade and Kakashi are waiting for you on the village."

Naruto stopped dead on the spot, his casual chat with Kurama all but forgotten. There were few things that could actually piss off Naruto, usually the rants and tantrums he threw in the guild were just some…kind of joke. Actually, it was more like a game to keep the active atmosphere in the guild hall, just like the all out brawls usually happening there. But, being called names was something he didn't cope very well with, not at all.

The few memories he had from before Kurama and Natsu found him, even if dizzy and somewhat vague, were painful ones…he could only remember pain, loneliness and suffering. He would let the names pass with the members of the guild, they were family after all, and he knew they meant no harm with it, and he would sometimes let it go during fights, he himself used that tactic a lot to get on the other nerves and make his opponent lose his focus.

But for a guy he never saw before, least even talk to him, to call him dobe without apparent reason like they were long time friends? It was like the silhouettes on his dreams, pointing him with glares (even if he couldn't see them) while calling him various things, from the most innocent names to the most elaborated insults he ever heard with such hate he would usually wake up crying.

Gathering enough magic power to level half of Magnolia with only one strike, he turned and focused it on his fist, igniting it with flames and stretching it in a punch motion with all the fury he could muster at the moment, _"Karyuu no Tekken!"_

Everybody went on high alert when they felt the energy spike in Naruto, and it wasn't chakra…at least not totally, and a second later he was turning to Sasuke with a flame-engulfed fist ready in a punching motion. The heat on the fist could be felt even at the distance they got between them and Naruto, and it was not really that close.

No one dared to even move when they saw the punch stretch in Sasuke's direction, too shocked by what was happening…Naruto attacking Sasuke, clearly meaning harm? The punch being inches away from Sasuke's face made everyone cringe and close their eyes, already expecting the sick crunch of bone being broken, and they kept them that way fearing the image of a heavily injured Uchiha.

The few seconds their eyes were shut felt like hours, and they only opened them when the voice of a clearly freaked out Sasuke was heard, "N-Naruto? W-why t-the hell d-did you a-attack me?!"

The sight that greeted them was intimidating, Naruto was narrowing his eyes dangerously with his arm stretched, clearly angry, his still flame engulfed fist stopped by an already fading purple rib cage made of chakra, it was broken…no, it was practically reduced to splinters, and Sasuke was wide eyed, eternal Magenkyo active, staring Naruto with clear surprise and a bit of fear.

Stilted blue eyes were burning with fury…how he dared call him by his name? He was about to answer with another punch, but was stopped by Kurama's voice shouting at him, "You are overreacting, Naruto! Calm down and think about our situation, and remember Edolas…maybe it's just some misunderstanding!"

Naruto thought about that for a second, Edolas…they were pulled into that dimension by an Anima because of their magic, but what did that had to do with…of course! His eyes widened in realization and he felt like banging his head on a tree for being such an idiot, surely there was another Naruto in this dimension and this guys were his friends, and were joking just like the people back in the guild.

Looking guilty, he deactivated his magic, making his eyes return to their usual shape, and retreated his arm, which now was even closer to the black haired guy than the previous one, and apologized.

"I'm sorry, I let my emotions get the best of me, but…I don't like being called names, it brings back some…memories I would like to forget."

"No kidding?" Sasuke asked sarcastically while nursing a bruise on his cheek, even if the fist didn't hit the force behind it was strong enough to make the air act like a weaker extension of it, just like the punches of his Gamma-ken stile enhanced with senjutsu, "Come on Naruto, Tsunade is going to punch us all the way to Suna if we make her wait even more."

"Eeeemmmm, weeeelllll, you see…I am not exactly who you think who I am." he said awkwardly while scratching the back of his head.

"Stop joking you baka, we need to get you back to the village. You know it's around the time that Akatsuki can make their move to Suna." Sakura said exasperatedly.

What was Naruto playing at? First he disappears for 4 years, and then he appears dressed weirdly and with a chibi kyuubi by his side acting like this is the first time he ever saw them? This was not a funny prank.

"Well…I'm Naruto but not your Naruto…it's a weird situation ya know?" he then turned to the small fox, "Do I tell them?"

"Do it, it can clear all this mess and then we can return to look for a way to get back home, the old man will skin me alive if he finds out, even if it's not my fault…you will not tell him, will you?"

Naruto just grinned evilly and turned to the confused group in front of him.

"Were to start?" he asked himself while tapping his chin with a finger thoughtfully, a habit he had adopted from Mira.

After some time, he smashed his fist on his open palm, "I know, I'll tell you about Edolas and from then I'll explain about my world."

And so he started to explain about the alter dimensions and counterparts on each world, then he started to speak about his world, Earthland, and how they used magic there. Kurama played along with it, satisfied with how they were looking them, they were believing it…not that hard in a world where you could spit lava from your mouth, or have eyes with time-space twisting abilities, and even summon animals the size of buildings that were capable of fighting and speaking…just a bit more and they would be out of this.

"… and that's pretty much it, what's my name…well, my other me name here?"

"Naruto Uzumaki." answered Hinata looking downcast, she really hoped Naruto had finally returned, but the boy in front of them had showed them before, even if a bit forcefully, what that magic was, and she didn't saw a seal appear on his stomach when the energy was being channeled.

"See? I am Naruto Dragneel…and thinking about it. It would be nice to meet the Naruto from here, it was fun to meet Edo-Natsu and Edo-Gray." he said, laughing remembering how different those two were from the ones he knew, how would the Naruto from this world would be?

"I'm sorry my friend, but our Naruto went MIA about 4 years ago in a mission, we have been searching for him all this time but we haven't found any trace of him." said Lee, in a very out of character melancholic voice.

"So when somebody spotted me you thought Uzumaki had returned right?"

Everyone looked at him curiously at how he called their Naruto.

"What? I'm also called Naruto so I can get easily confused, you can call me Dragneel if you don't want to confuse us again."

"Troublesome blondes…but yeah, we thought you were Uzumaki." Shikamaru said in a lazy tone, but he was clearly sad that his friend was still missing.

Naruto's eyebrows frowned in concentration, "Hmmm… I know!" he shouted after some time, making everyone that was looking at him curiously jump in surprise.

They could swore a flame lit up over his head, signaling he got an idea, "I can help you find Uzumaki, and then you can help me find a way to return to Earthland, what do you say?"

Hinata and Sakura were about to accept immediately but Shikamaru acted before that, "Thanks for offering your help, but before accepting I will discuss this with my teammates."

"Sure, take your time." Naruto said, walking to a side with Kurama.

"Do you think this is a good idea, Naruto?" asked the fox coolly, making a great effort at keeping his rising panic under control.

"Of course Kurama, this way I get to meet my counterpart here, and also get extra help at finding a way to return back home, it's a win-win." he said with a big grin.

Kurama thought about it for a while, it was true that the old pervert Jiraya could make something with Fuuinjutsu to store some Eternano from Naruto, and then use it with Kakashi's Kamui to open a rift between dimensions and allow them to go back to Earthland, ninjas were crafty like that he had forgotten, they would only need to keep away from Doujutsus or really skilled sensors and they could pass through this mess without making a fuzz of it.

"I hope you are right kit, I hope-"

"Naruto-kun!"

Kurama cursed, that was Hinata's voice, and he could gamble Igneel's left wing that she had her Byakugan active, and that the Uchiha had his Sharingan active too; without looking back to them he pulled Naruto, "Come Naruto, we need to leave, now!"

"Why? Weren't they going to help us?"

"Look at those eyes and tell me they are not a threat"

"Shit! They are using magic! But I can take care-"

"No, you can't!" Kurama was already grabbing Naruto's waist coat to pull him out of there flying, but something kept him still on his place, only then he noticed their shadow extending in a thin line back to where the Nara was crouched, smirking.

"_Kage mane no jutsu_, success."

"Damn you Nara, damn you and that stupid genius brain of yours!" growled the chibi fox.

"So, I was right after all huh Kyuubi? Troublesome demon…"

Naruto didn't heard anything else from that conversation, he didn't cared after all, all that echoed on his mind was that simple last word… demon… a flash of memory went through his head at that moment and his fists clenched once more on restrained fury as names he was called before sounded again and again… _monster_ they whispered, _demon brat_, _why won't you die?_ "You are just like them, those voices from before Kurama, Igneel and Natsu-nii…"_demon_… even if his voice was slow and hard, they all could feel the sorrow and pain that filled every word "I changed my mind… we don't need your help"

"P-please Naruto-kun, i-it's not like-"Hinata pleaded but was cut shut by a sudden outburst of Naruto

"SHUT UP!" Naruto screamed in rage and fire exploded around him, the pressure generated by the Chakra filled Eternano was simply too much for Shikamaru to keep the jutsu active, so after some more struggle he lifted it, allowing Naruto to once again move freely, said blonde just turned to his friend and said on a cold voice "We are leaving Kurama"

The fox was fast behind him trying to calm him down, making him remember that he should not let those fools get the best of him and that he should focus on other things, like finding a way to return back to their home, and finding something to take back with them, as some kind of gift from their visit here. It was working as the frown slowly disappeared, and even a small smile appeared, but a green blur appeared in front of them, and just like that Naruto's bad mood was back with a vengeance.

"Yosh! Naruto-kun, your flames of youth burn brightly, but we need to-"

_"Karyuu no Enchuu!"_ And with a wet crunch where the flame-propelled punch hit, Lee was launched into the forest, and Naruto kept distancing himself from the shocked group

If someone ever told Sasuke what just happened, he would have laughed and dismissed the clearly delusional man, but he had seen Naruto, the happy-go-lucky blonde dobe, orange and ramen lover, the one who would die (and actually died, or so they thought) for the safety of his friends actually hurt Lee willingly, and then step away without caring about what just happened.

There was no doubt about it, this was Naruto Uzumaki, the feel of his chakra, and the presence of a chakra network to begin with was enough evidence already, he knew it thanks to his Sharingan, and Hinata's Byakugan only confirmed it, but there was a weird mass of energy in the place where the seal was before, it's feeling was similar to the senjutsu energy... he was not able to use it, but he was familiar to the nature chakra, and it combined with his chakra continuously without depleting… just where had he been all this years, and what could have happened to make him think like he was from another place? He would not let the dobe get away without figuring it out.

"You are not going anywhere dobe, we are taking you back home and clearing up all this mess" Sasuke stated coldly, already blocking his path, but at a safe distance from him and any other of those dangerous punches.

Naruto started to shake in anger, blue slitted eyes that would have maimed the raven haired guy in front of them if they could narrowed dangerously as his mouth opened "shut up… Shut Up!... SHUT UP!" and building his magic he inhaled deeply and blew out a huge twister of fire directly to him _"Karyuu no Hooko!"_

Sasuke felt the energy building in Naruto's lungs, so guessing what could come out he flashed through hand seals and blew his own sphere of fire at the same time _"Gokakyuu no jutsu"._ For a moment both fire attacks clashed and fought for supremacy, but the dragon's fire proved to be stronger and consumed the jutsu, increasing its size and closing in to Sasuke, who thinking quickly shunshined close to Naruto, Sharingan active and spinning into the Eternal Magenkyo once again.

Both locked eyes for a second while the massive ball of fire was stopped by a combined effort of Sakura and Hinata with an earth wall and another Suiryuudan, and that second was enough for Sasuke to cast an illusion on Naruto and disable him, just in time to avoid most of the damage of a flaming punch directed to him, and still it managed to launch him into a tree with enough force to dent it.

Even if it wasn't a full hit, the strength behind it managed to force the wind around into some kind of ghost punch much alike the hits of his Gamma-ken enhanced with senjutsu… it hurt. So coughing some blood he rose to his knees and panted there, waiting for someone to heal him, he shivered at the idea of receiving that punch on full force.

Hinata quickly run to heal him while Sakura rushed to where Lee was, her superior medical knowledge would be necessary to heal him, and Shikamaru stayed behind in case Naruto attacked again or the fox tried something, so he was on guard when Kurama floated to where Naruto laid unconscious on the ground, the chibi fox then turned with a glare to Sasuke "What did you do to Naruto?"

"It's a simple illusion… the true question is what you did to the dobe… Kyuubi" but before the fox could say something Hinata spoke

"Don't try to deny it, this IS Naruto-kun… the feeling of his chakra is unique, and he HAS chakra pathways, that simple fact throws out the cover of you being from other dimension" She said with her Byakugan active.

Kurama sighed in defeat and grabbed Naruto by the collar of his waist coat after checking that the illusion was a simple one indeed, and that it would not trigger some unpleasant… reaction with his memories, and started to lift him.

"Where do you think you are going?" Shikamaru asked, starting with the hand seals for another Kagemane and Kurama sighed once again, this would be a loooooong day for both of them

"Get the green one back and meet me in the clearing, then we go straight to Tsunade's office without attracting attention to ourselves, I won't escape… it's useless now; once we are inside her office I will explain what happened, so we can finally leave to find a way back home"

"But Naruto-kun is finally back home now!" Hinata cried, she had been waiting too long for her crush to return, and she would not let him leave again.

"Like I said, I will explain once we are on the old hag's office" and then he flew along with Naruto to the shadow of a nearby tree to wait for the group to get together, and so they did. After being healed enough to leave (according to Sakura Lee only had cracked ribs, his strong constitution protected him from getting them totally broken and having internal damage) they departed to the Hokage tower, there they would find out what happened to the blonde idiot that gave them a second chance to save their world.


	2. Naruto Dragneel Uzumaki

**(A/N): Finally! new chapter of this fanfic, which even if didn't got any review got quite the acceptance, it seems with every fanfic I start, the quality or something improves and more and more people like them more... eventually, but anyway, back to the current fic weeellll... writer's block can be a bitch, but once you find what you were looking for the ideas just flood you and even more can appear, and I don't really know what is worse, if having no ideas or having so many that you simply don't know what are you writing anymore... in another note, in this chapter Jarvis will have an entire section for himself... he can really get annoying when he starts to complain**

**"Hey! I din't-"**

**Yeah, you did, now shut up! Hope you like this new chapter as much as I suffered to write it, a lot, more things will be explained and the introduction of Naruto to the ninja life will start, hope to be able to upload sooner than this time... also please give "rescuing our future" a try, I like where that fanfic can go but without support it's kindda hard to go on, it's only two chapters so far too so it's not that hard to catch up ok? Third chapter for both comming up really soon (I hope) but enough of that... follow, favorite and etc if you like, but specially REVIEW! please? ON WITH THE STORY! :D**

**(Disclaimer: yaddayadda don't own Naruto nor Fairy Tail, yaddayaddda I'm poor)**

**Small update 09/02/2015: Same thing as the previous one, some gramatical corrections and improvement of some other parts I noticed could be improved while giving a second check up on the final product, hope you like it :D (I'l definately do the same thing with the remaining two chapters)**

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><p>Chapter 2: Naruto Dragneel Uzumaki<p>

"There… done!" Said Kurama cleaning some sweat from his forehead, "I've lifted the illusion the Uchiha casted on him and blocked his memory from that last tantrum when Nara here tried to play smart and screwed everything".

"In my defense I must state that we ninjas live suspicious from even our own shadows, if you don't remember Kyuubi" said the lazy genius

"But I supposed you were too lazy to suppose things, and that first you would get information"

"I was trying to do that, I asked Hinata to use her Byakugan's 360 degree vision field to spy on you without getting attention on us… but really I can't blame her for that slip, even I was surprised to find out this IS Naruto, we all thought he could have died 4 years ago when we used that seal"

"It has actually been 11 years for us; the world we ended in has a different time span than here it seems…"

"Stop bickering already!" Tsunade stopped both before they started fighting "Now reverse whatever you did to hide his memory of us so I can send him again on missions, I want him ready as soon as it's possible so he can finally get this damned hat from my head, I'm sick of paperwork"

Kurama sighed sadly; he knew that she was trying to give Naruto his old dream of becoming Hokage this time around. The last time when Tsunade stepped down Naruto and Sasuke were nominated for the position, the first a strong candidate given his newfound popularity in the village after all his heroic feats before and during the raging war, but the last Uchiha was also deemed worthy by the council thanks to his level head, too bad for him that he was not liked too much in the village after his treason, despite Naruto claiming that he was loyal once again once he finally convinced him to return, and even despite he himself helped rebuild a name for the Uchiha.

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><p>The meeting to decide the new Hokage was held while Naruto was away on an important mission, where he fought against Tobi along with Kakashi and Sakura; during it they discovered that Tobi was actually Obito Uchiha, Kakashi's supposed death teammate, but even despite the devastating news they won when Kakashi finally succeeded in killing the man, now it was only Madara who was left, and even as an Edo Tensei he could control the other captured Bijuu, so the war was still far from over.<p>

When Naruto returned to the village along with his teammates (Kakashi no longer considered them his students) he expected to be greeted by the clan heads and Tsunade-baachan with the news of him being Rokudaime thanks to his efforts during the war, that was the only thing that kept the whole team with a somewhat high spirit… but instead he only found the Sanin alone there with a troubled expression on her face, and understanding what was about to happen Naruto sent the other two elsewhere while he spoke to her, he was not going to bring more bad news to them, at least not right now, they had already had enough. She told him how the meeting went… and the decision of making Sasuke the Rokudaime.

The betrayed look on Naruto's face was only saw by Tsunade as she explained that he was a really necessary asset in the frontlines and could not be spared to be kept on the village with the other kages, and while Sasuke was also an important fighter in the war he was not as essential as him, and they also wished to keep him close to avoid any other possible treason… it broke her heart to see once again that happy mask be forced on his face when she heard him say that he was happy for his friend, and that surely once the war was over he would become Nanadaime.

Weeks later Naruto became a missing-nin and left the village to face Madara alone after his will of fire was crushed by Neji's dead, Killer bee getting captured, Hinata's betrayal and much more blows to his heart, it took every one of his remaining friends (including Sasuke) to convince him to return, and when they found out that the Hiraishin seal array could be used to do a grater 'travel' he once again smiled, excited about a new chance to prevent all this… sadly it went wrong for him.

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><p>"I'm sorry Tsunade, but there are no memories to retrieve, he was 5 years old when we appeared on Earthland, and the few memories he had were not pleasant ones… you all know how hard his life was at that age, and that gave him serious trust issues, I got a lot of trouble into making him trust me again"<p>

"I don't care about his age, for me he could be a toddler right now but... What do you mean by no memories?"

"Exactly that, no memories of anything, of any of you, of the village, of Akatsuki, of the war, of Madara, the Bijuu, my old man, nothing, empty, slate clean… everything after 5 years was gone from his head... but it's weird that despite the age he regressed to, his chakra was still there, his coils as developed as I remembered, and almost three tails worth of my chakra also in the mix"

"So... you gave all that chakra just to escape from the seal when he was weakened?!" Tsunade grunted through gritted teeth barely restraining herself from screaming

"I didn't, I was already out of it and like this when we arrived on Earthland… look, (sigh) I know it's really hard to understand and that all this looks like it was orchestrated by me, but it's true, this is no longer the Naruto you all knew, he died the day you all tried to come back… Naruto Uzumaki is gone, and this one" he said pointing to the sleeping blonde on the couch "is Naruto Dragneel, a mage from Fairy Tail, a guild in the kingdom of Fiore, world of Earthland… he has now a brother who loves and cares for him, one who took care of him once their foster father, a strange one I must add, had to leave; he has a family in the form of that guild, yeah they are crazy, and most are not exactly a model to follow, but they care for each other and protect those they consider their friends even with their own life" Now a smirk appeared on his muzzle and his eyes shone knowingly "There's also a certain blonde girl that gets his interest every now and then… and I could even dare to say she feels the same way" and then the grin was gone, replaced by irritation "but the kit is so dense I doubt even himself knows what he feels"

The whole room sweatdropped after hearing this, and even despite himself and the serious mood Sasuke could not help but say "Guess some things never change" everyone agreed at this, even Kurama, while chuckling and the tension in the room lessened, but Hinata had a bittersweet taste on her mouth once the moment was gone.

"Overall Naruto now is finally happy" continued Kurama "No mask is needed, nobody ignores or hates him anymore, he has the love and recognition he strived his whole life, and he is safer there, there's no Madara, no Akatsuki, no Orochimaru, no corruption in the scale there is here, no need to kill or fear for your life… Earthland is his… our home now, and we wish to return as fast as we can"

The room went dead silent after Kurama's declaration, the seven ninjas deep in thought… a mage? Surely the fox was messing with them. A guild? Does that weird tattoo on his arm mean any affiliation? Naruto had explained all this to most of the present, but it was still a hard idea to grasp... and even harder to accept now that they knew this was _their_ Naruto, but supposing that what the fox said was true… was he _that_ happy on that other world? Safer? They already took care of most of the most immediate threats, and even of some of the future ones, but was that enough?

"I have a deal for you Kyuubi" Said Shikamaru breaking the silence and getting everyone's attention "One that can benefit both of our sides"

"I'm listening"

"We will help you find a way to return to this world you so much claim you belong now, I'm sure Jiraya-sama can think about something related to Fuuinjutsu" Everyone looked at him like he was nuts, was he really that calm with the idea of not seeing Naruto ever more? "But in the meanwhile you will be stuck here, and during that time we will try and make Naruto recover his memories" everyone now sighed in relief, let Shikamaru come with ingenious ideas "If by the time we find a way to send you both back to your world he has not regained any of his memories we will let you go, and I'm sure you will never hear from us again, but if by that time he gets back some or all of his memories, it will be up to him decide whether he will stay or he will leave, you agree?"

Kurama thought a bit about it, they really didn't had much option there, one way or another they were stuck in the elemental nations, and better be in a somewhat familiar place than wondering aimlessly on possible dangerous territory, and they could also help in finding a way to go back home… but they are ninjas, and deception is one of their musts… damn, it was easier in the guild where you could trust everyone with your life "Fine Nara, I'll accept your deal, we will stay in the village and I'll let you try make Naruto remember, just so you can confirm what I just said" now he narrowed his eyes and his red slitted pupils shone dangerously making him gulp "But try something funny like illusions or fake memories and I swear you'll never see us again, remember that I still share a link with the kit so I'll know if you try something like that"

"Is that why you could block Naruto's memory of our encounter in the forest?" asked Sasuke

"Yes"

"Then why you didn't gave him your memories?"

"His mind is not my playground Uchiha, I'm not like the people from your clan, I only did that this time because it would make a rational conversation between us easier once he wakes up, and also he deserved to be happy... remembering you would only depress him, after all you did to him even when he thought of you like a family…"

"B-but we are still l-like f-family!"

"Don't say a word about that! Especially you Hyuuga… out of everyone here you were the one who pushed him further into snapping, and even after that he sacrificed himself so you could come back…"

Filled with guilt everyone went silent, only small sobs from Hinata were heard, and when she could not handle it anymore she started crying and ran out of the office, Kurama sighed and turned to see Naruto stirring on his dream, he turned to the rest and said "Naruto is about to wake up, have you called for people to see him?" the question was directed to Tsunade

"Everyone who met him even once but missed him during his 4 year absence"

"Then go, all of you, and explain them his situation while I make up some story to how he ended here and make him believe it" everyone chuckled once again, there was that silly verbal tick he had when he was a kid "Remember that I will deny everything you say about his past, I'll let you do it, but I won't help… now go" he made a shooing motion with his paw

"Ironic... the very same demon that once tried to destroy the village now is ordering me in my office" Said Tsunade walking towards the door following the rest out of the room

"I prefer the title Exeed now, even if I still have old traits of my Bijuu nature I fit better now in that category… weird things happen when you travel dimensions"

"Whatever" said Tsunade before closing the door once outside the office.

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><p>Naruto slowly opened his eyes, feeling that his head was about to split in two "Ughhh… What hit me? I feel just like if Erza used my head as a punching bag…"<p>

"Actually you kind of knocked yourself out" answered Kurama "Don't you remember?"

"Huh?" asked Naruto still rubbing his head

"After those guys accepted you offer you got all… fired up? I don't know why you let Igneel rub you that silly catch phrase"

"Hey! It's not silly!"

"Whatever… after that you started to run ahead without really looking to the ground and fell from a small cliff, I guess you can tell what happened then"

"I fell and my head landed on a rock… again?" Naruto asked chuckling nervously and feeling embarrassed

"Yup, Clover town again; after that those guys helped me get you inside their town, and right now we are on their leader's office"

"Uh-huh" the blonde nodded absentmindedly while looking around the office and occasionally sniffing "It's weird Kurama, I somehow find this place familiar, and that… homey smell again… How's this place called?"

"Huh?" asked Kurama, trying to think on some way to avoid bringing up the bad memories

"This city Kurama, how is it called?"

"What was it?" he faked being in deep thought tapping a paw on his chin "Kon-koho-kono… Konoha, I think"

"Konoha… hmm" he crossed his arms and seemed to be concentrating in something, but after some seconds he shrugged "Nope, doesn't ring a bell, maybe this place is kind of messing up my senses" Kurama mentally sighed in relief "Where is everyone else?"

"About that, I forgot to tell you..." Kurama said turning serious, this caught Naruto's attention immediately "I overheard some of their chat on our way here, they are still sure you are Uzumaki"

"But I already explained them about that!" whined Naruto

"I know, but they refuse to believe that, and from what I heard Uzumaki could be... well, dead..."

"Dead? That's... no way!" Naruto never liked that word, even if it was an stranger, and specially now since this was... somehow him

"Don't get all gloomy now, I said he could be, not that he was" this lifted Naruto's mood again, even if small there was hope "And they also said he was a ninja of this village, so he clearly knows how to protect himself"

"Ninja? That's sooo cool! Maybe his friends can teach me some cool ninja stuff while-"

"Focus on the problem Naruto!" Kurama growled a bit annoyed "They want to replace Uzumaki with you! I'm sure they will lie to you, try to convince you that you belong here… I even heard they can make illusions that can create fake things in your mind and make them feel real… we will be staying here so if they try something like that don't let them fool you, the guild must be still waiting for us and worried about our whereabouts"

"If this is that dangerous, then why trust them?"

"Even if it's true they'll try to make you stay I can't really blame them for thinking about that, try to compare them to Edo-Elfman and Edo-Mira… it looked like their Lissana actually died, but when our Lissana arrived on Edolas imagine how happy they were, believing that their Lissana had returned… it was only as time passed that they noticed the difference and in the end resigned to let her go with us back to Earthland. Now relate that to the guys here, they say that Uzumaki disappeared 4 years ago, and now you appear out of nowhere, literally, looking like a clone of the one they look for, telling things about alternate dimensions and doppelgangers, clearly they will prefer to believe that you are delusional than facing the truth… besides they look like good people and will also help us find a way back home, or so they say"

Naruto thought about that for a while, trying to place himself on their position "Yeah, I guess I would have reacted in a similar way if something similar happened when Lissana-neesan…" a sad sigh escaped his lips as he remembered how hard hit Natsu, Happy, Kurama and him the news that Lissana died on that mission, but a small smile then replaced his frown at the memory of the party the guild threw when Lissana finally returned, how happy were his brother and his exeed catching up with her "Guess I can't really get angry at them for trying to convince me, not that I would let me get convinced, or them starting to treat me in the way they used to do with Uzumaki, at least until they get used to me... I guess it will be like with that duck butted Teme that called me dobe…" Kurama snickered hearing that, even the face was the same when he used to bicker with the Emo king back in his genin days "What?" and with that the seriousness of his face disappeared

"It's just that… nah, it's nothing. On the bright side, maybe you can convince them to teach you some 'cool Ninja stuff' while we are here" Naruto could practically hear the quotation marks on his words

"Yatta!" He cheered up immediately, fist up in the air "Now I'm all fired up, believe it!" and it seemed that Naruto didn't even noticed he fell on that forgotten verbal tick from his previous life, but Kurama just dismissed it as his subconscious and sighed, he should be already used to the mood swings and sudden outbursts… it was like being with a Natsu clone sometimes, a clone with blonde hair instead of pink, and that made him wonder if Happy was just used to Natsu's… unique personality or if he was simply too innocent to care… maybe a mix of both… a soft knock on the door brought him back to the Hokage's office.

"Naruto, wait here for a while, their leader said something about gathering all the people Uzumaki once knew, maybe it's them now… I'll go outside and try to convince them one last time, but it might not work so I suggest you to embrace yourself for a… unique situation" he then floated to the door before he stopped and turned to him and add as an afterthought "And Naruto? Please try to keep from turning anything inside this office to ashes" Then he opened the door and floated outside not really hearing Naruto's cries of indignation, and seeing Tsunade and all the people behind her he rose and eyebrow "You managed to get this much people to convince Naruto that he's Uzumaki?"

Tsunade and the other six that had already met the fox didn't mind him that much, but all the others behind them that were old enough to remember the Kyuubi attack 16 years ago paled at the sight of the small fox with little feathered wings and three tails hanging from it's backside "Kyuubi…" someone muttered disbelievingly but Kurama didn't paid attention to it as he told Tsunade and the others there the excuse he made up for Naruto

"_Kyuubi!"_ It was Iruka the one who snarled the name this time, enough to let others hear it and make the younger ones there also pale, and in an act of bravery maybe fueled by the frail appearance of the small fox, he threw a Kunai towards him, but said fox only floated to a side lazily and said weapon never came even close to graze him.

"What's the meaning of this Hokage-sama?" Kurama asked Tsunade faking obliviousness and innocence about the reason this just happened, she only glared at him for a second before sighing and turning to the now tense group.

"I've already told you about Naruto's situation, the same applies here to Kurama-san… that's his name by the way, not _Kyuubi_, and he happens to be a close friend to Naruto, so I don't suggest that kind of behavior if you don't want to get on Naruto's bad side"

"B-but that's… _it_, and Naruto would never-"

"I'm sorry to tell you, Iruka-san, that Naruto really can't remember us at all, for him we are totally strangers now" Lee said in an unusual serous tone "And he is willing to inflict damage to those who mistreat him or Kurama-san, Sasuke-san can give testimony of that" and unconsciously he moved a hand to his chest, where the ghost pain of the punch made him wince despite the great job Sakura did healing him.

All the present gasped at that bit of information they were oblivious to, they knew the relation between the Jinchuuriki and the last Uchiha, and even if they would get into fights occasionally they knew they would not go to lengths of harming greatly each other, and if what Rock Lee just said was true, then their beliefs that Tsunade was just exaggerating were no longer that strong, so in their shock they proceeded to stare at Kurama, who looked confused and oblivious (Or at least that's how it looked like, inside he was laughing his ass off… tricky bastard)

"G-gomen Kurama-san, for a moment I mistook you for… _something_ else"

"Don't worry about it… Iruka was it?" the scarred teacher nodded "That has happened a couple of times by now and I don't really mind it, so no harm done" The fox said while waving a paw in a dismissively way.

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><p>Now you should be wondering, story aside for a moment, why the hell is that damned fox acting so… civilized and has not already started ranting about him being the ultimate engine of destruction that has ever walked over the Elemental Nations, well… he no longer is (<em>Typing on a keyboard and various clicks can be heard, then "The Storyteller" main theme starts to play in the background) <em>Ehemm… When they somehow ended up in Earthland, making a long story short, Kurama found himself out of the seal, much… MUCH smaller than he remembered and 3 tails worth of chakra missing, and close to him was a small 5 Years old Naruto that looked totally terrified of him just like if he didn't even knew who he was, so struggling with the frightened boy he found out that Naruto had lost every memory after 5 years, and the ones previous were distant and unclear, so he had to take care of a 5 year old memory less Naruto just because he felt he owed the kit at least that after what he went through back on the village.

After a couple of days wandering on the forest, and after befriending the boy again (he found ironic how it was him now who tried to become the kit's friend) they stumbled with Natsu, and the pink haired boy immediately found himself resembled in Naruto, so he took both to meet Igneel, and for the first time (and last so far) Kurama met a Dragon… he never felt so small before in his long existence, and even after training hard to harness the Eternano (some days later the dragon told him that they were in a mage world and that there they used magic power, fueled by Eternano) and successfully combining it with his chakra (Somehow Naruto now could do this unconsciously) he could grow up to six tails, but the massive Dragon still towered him by a significant difference.

Igneel once tried to make Kurama leave with Naruto, stating that he could only take care of one kid since he was not _that_ fond of humans, but Kurama knew that the kit needed someone as strong as Igneel to take care of him, so he made a deal with the dragon in presence of Naruto, stating that they should fight and depending who won Naruto would have to leave or stay, but Kurama would leave anyway. Igneel agreed.

Kurama stood his ground against the massive dragon, managing to even scar him through those almost impenetrable scales, but in the end Igneel emerged victorious, and did something that greatly surprised the fox… stating that he didn't had such a good fight in a long time, to honor a worthy opponent he would take care of Naruto despite defeating him; that humbled the fox for the first time in his existence, being used to ninjas and their backstabbing ways that display of honor was like a slap on the face, and became even greater when, at the time he was about to leave, the small Naruto ran to him from inside the cave they lived in and crying he hugged him like a lifeline, pleading that he didn't leave him because he was his first friend ever.

Now Kurama knew this was because of the memory loss he suffered, but the raw emotion the boy displayed on his face and plea was so sincere that he couldn't help but shed a single tear, not that he would ever admit that, and try to hug him back with his tiny paws and tails. Igneel only chuckled at the scene and said that he wouldn't mind repeating such a good fight again once the fox grew stronger, even proposing to help him, and thus a small family was born.

Igneel grew fond of Naruto in no time, going to the length of calling him his son along with Natsu, and teaching both the Fire dragon slayer magic, Naruto and Natsu treated each other like brothers, and their personalities were so much alike that anyone would call them twins in all but blood, and so the idea of using similar clothing got inside their heads (Oh… so that was why… Hehehe, sorry for rant back on chapter 1) but seeing they could not do that for now Naruto opted for giving Natsu his orange and black jacket, which Natsu wore until it was too small to fit him, and then he stored it along with their important mementos; it was surprising that the clothes he wore the day they tried to jump back in time shrunk to his current body, well, all except from his headband, which disappeared much to Kurama's delight, he didn't needed ties with his old life.

When Igneel gave each one their own scaled white scarf they had such a big smile that Kurama was afraid their faces would split any moment, but sadly that would be the last significant happy memory they would have with Igneel, because some days later he left without warning and none of the three saw him again until the current date, but it seemed Karma now worked in favor of Naruto because it was not much later that they met Makarov Dreyar.

It was more like he found them, and after a quick conversation he convinced Natsu and Naruto to join his mage guild called Fairy Tail, and obviously he had to follow them. The tiny man once again showed him how much different this new world was because even if he had enough strength to form part of the 10 Wizard saints, title he could relate to the Sannin back in the Elemental Nations, he liked to play fool and be easygoing to let his 'children' grow up at their own pace; but he would never let them get into trouble, when he got serious he would make even Tsunade start sweating bullets.

All in all his experience on Earthland gave him an image of what his old man wished for the Elemental Nations, and he really liked it, he even made friends with people in the guild, specially with Happy, Charle and Panther Lily as a fellow exeed (He had said before that now he considered himself an Exeed more than a Bijuu seeing he fits the description) going to the extent of also having a guild mark on one of his paws, he wouldn't show it to anyone, not because he was ashamed of it, but because it meant so much for him now that only those he deemed worthy would know about it, just like he was with his name back on his old grumpy days.

So now he didn't had that stick up his ass anymore, considered Naruto and Natsu family along with the whole guild, and now he was… friendlier with others, and his superiority complex was transformed into something similar to the pervert name Jiraya made for himself, people knew him for that but accepted it as something more funny than annoying, so it was fine to be around him now… yup that's all about that, now where were we? Oh! Right there _(Sounds some clicks and music stops) _Ahem…

* * *

><p>"Is Naruto ready to see us now? There are some people getting really impatient" Cut Tsunade before Iruka answered the fox<p>

"I've already told you Hokage-sama, this is not Uzumaki we are talking about… but I believe you didn't told them that, well, you'll notice that by yourself later, but for now yeah, he's ready to see you… remember, he doesn't likes to be called names"

"I've already got that clear" muttered Sasuke remembering those punches he somehow avoided before, Tsunade opened the doors to the office, but before anyone could enter two blurs shot inside and tackled an unaware Naruto to the floor while he was watching the Hokage monument through the office window

"Naruto-niisan! You finally came back!" A boy with dark hair, that reminded him of Romeo back in the guild, said practically shouting with glee

"Took you long enough to return boss" another one said practically crying, he had brown spiky hair somehow oriented upwards and a long blue scarf around his neck "Nice scarf by the way"

"Uhh… thanks?" Naruto's face was the perfect image of confusion

"Hey Inari, maybe he will remember us if we show him _that_ jutsu" blue scarf said grinning, cleaning the tears that managed to escape his eyes and sniffing

"Which… Ohhhh, _that_ one, hehehehe… let's do this Konohamaru!" The newly identified Inari answered with another grin and both jumped back from over Naruto to form a weird sigh with their hands at the same time _"Oiroke no jutsu!"_ and in a poof of smoke both kids disappeared, everyone was already inside the room when the smoke dissipated only to reveal two naked girls… two pretty damn good looking naked girls with only bits of smoke covering the… sensitive areas in one side, and a long blue scarf doing the same work on the other.

"Do you remember us now… _Boss?_" purred seductively the brunette one

"We've missed you Naruto-_niisan_" the dark haired one followed the example of the first

The room fell silent at the display, many of the males there were wide-eyed and some even had blood dripping out of their nose, but Naruto just kept there and blinked once, twice, and if you took great attention you could see a small, tiny drop of blood trying to fall from his nose… and also hear furious writing from somewhere.

Seeing no recognition come to the face of the blonde, both kids sighed in defeat and released the Henge, then someone shouted

"Nooooooo! Change back please! That was the most enlightening sight I've ever had, even from peep… ehemm… researching! There were some ideas that-" His rant was cut off when the temperature in the room dropped considerably (not that Naruto noticed, his usual body temperature is higher than normal thanks to his magic) and a dark aura appeared around every woman in the room, but the one with blonde hair and big… assets was the one who started to walk towards where the voice spoke.

"What did you said, you old pervert?" She asked clearly faking sweetness, if the punch she held up by her face and the bulging vein in her forehead was any indicator... Lucy usually reacted in the same way when they entered her apartment through the window before she arrived, and sometimes it was really scary.

"Ehhh, look Tsunade-hime, it's not what it looks like, you SEEEEeeeeeeee…" A white haired and weird looking man started mumbling waving his hands in front of him before he disappeared… analyzing better the scene he tried to connect the dots, the woman's arm was stretched with smoke coming out of her fist, which was in the place were the man's face was before, and a hole in the wall in front of her… and the man's fading voice in the distance…

"Fight me!" somehow he got up, jumped and ended in front of the woman while pointing at her in less than 2 seconds, and everyone (including said woman) looked at him like he grew a second head and wings "please?" he added trying to make the situation a bit less uncomfortable

"Every time Naruto… every damn time you see someone that can clearly kick your ass you have to make a fool of yourself and demand a fight…" Kurama said clearly exasperated, but he was already used to this kind of displays "You are too much like your brother for your own good" That last bit he added on porpoise to see how the rest of people would react, he was not disappointed by the collective gasp

"I've already told you that demanding is still better than directly charging!" Naruto answered with a glare and a pout, oblivious of the reactions of the rest of people "And it's just fair that we measure our strength with stronger people, you know Igneel taught us that, so don't blame Natsu-nii for that" he ended crossing his arms on his chest still pouting and glaring at Kurama

"Yeah, yeah, sure, but even though I bet even your father would be quite troubled about you taking so much after Natsu, damn, you even use practically the same outfit!" Again a collective gasp after the mention of his 'father', and this time Naruto finally noticed it and the disbelieving looks directed to him, and noticing the mischievous shine in Kurama's eyes he caught his plan and directed him a grin that meant that he would play along

"Yeah, but you know that the idea was there ever since we were kids, and it only became fitting after the people started calling us the 'Dragon twins of Fairy Tail', and I'm sure that's totally normal behavior between brothers-"

"Sorry to interrupt your chat, but we haven't been properly introduced" Tsunade said a bit annoyed that she was being ignored in such a way even being in front of the gaki, but mostly because in their little tirade people were starting to look confused, as if considering if this was truly Naruto, she needed everyone's help to bring the old Naruto back "I'm Senju Tsunade, Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato"

"Emmm… Naruto Dragneel, ummm, one of the dragon twins of Fairy Tail… nice to meet 'ya" he answered awkwardly while scratching his cheek, not really used to such formal introductions "You said that you could help us return home right?"

Tsunade sighed, this was going to be even harder than she thought it would be, she hoped that seeing some familiar faces would make him remember something, but clearly that plan had miserably failed so far "look Naruto, you are already back in home… there's no other world, or father, or brother, you belong-"

"I only agreed to come and help you because the deal was that you would help me find a way back home" Naruto cut off her clearly annoyed "if you only wish to keep me here so you can try to convince me to stay, then I'll better leave and find help somewhere else, the people back in the guild should be quite worried by now" and then he turned and headed to the door followed closely by Kurama

The room kept silent as Naruto neared the door and almost opened it, nobody wished to let him go, but also no one knew what to say now… eventually Sasuke was the one to react and try to stop him "Wait! Just don't leave yet dobe!" he cursed instantly noticing the slip

Naruto growled and snapped at him "What is it now _Teme?_" The room became silent once again, at least until the pink haired girl he saw before jumped and hugged him while the duck butt haired guy that spoke before smirked like if he just proved something.

"I knew you weren't totally lost Naruto" she said giving him a quite strong hug, only then he noticed that maybe 'Teme' was something that Uzumaki said regularly to that annoying guy, and he really didn't knew why the nickname came to his mind, he only found it fitting, but that clearly was NOT a memory.

"Look, I'm not who you think I am, that was just the first thing that came to my head so please don't get your hopes up…" he sighed when the pink haired girl only hugged him more firmly, and then he started to feel the wetness of tears on his chest while she muttered about there still being hope; he didn't had the heart to shrug her off, so he just patted her head and back trying to calm her… now the people thought that he _indeed_ was Uzumaki and would try harder to get him to stay… troublesome.

Shikamaru sneezed

But he really didn't shrug the hug because it felt like the ones Lucy would sometimes give him back at the guild. He really liked Lucy… 'HER HUGS! Her hugs!' he immediately corrected himself mentally, hiding his blushing face behind his scarf after that idea, but really… since he met her in Hargeon Town and convinced her to join Fairy Tail he felt weird around her, but a good weird kind of feeling, like being more happy, more energetic and always eager to help her; he always thought that it was because she was his friend, his nakama, but after that little slip, was he really interested in her in more than just being friends?

"Naruto?" he was brought back to reality by two fingers being snapped in front of his face and his name being called by the pink haired girl that was now trying to get out of the arm patting her back and the other one patting her head "Are you feeling fine?"

"I was thinking about someone back at home" he answered absentmindedly still with his face behind his scarf, but she noticed the rosy color of his cheeks and gave him a knowing grin

"I bet you were Naruto" after she said that Naruto immediately released her, like she had some kind of disease, only to blush even more in embarrassment, and try to bury his face even more behind his scarf in a very Hinata-like demeanor.

"Look Naruto, sorry if I let myself get carried away like that" Tsunade apologized really regretting her reaction, but also to save the gaki from the embarrassing situation he somehow got himself into "We will let that other… _problem_ aside for now, and I promise, as Hokage of the village, that we will really help you find a way back to… sorry, but this is really hard for me"

Naruto nodded, his blush finally gone (he silently thanked Tsunade for that) "I can understand that, we had a… similar situation back at home some time ago, so there are no hard feelings. I'll stay to keep my part of the deal and help you find Uzumaki"

"Fine" she breathed relieved "But if you will stay you will need to take… ermm… well, you know… _that_ name; you are too similar to him on looks, and to let you around with any other name than _his_ can cause some nasty political incidents because of a especial… _status_ he had, so in order to let us help you and vice versa without problems you will need to take his place as a ninja"

Naruto thought about this for a moment, was it a good idea to usurp Uzumaki while they searched for him? Kurama said that he probably... PROBABLY stressed Naruto, was dead, but was it fair for them to have him on his place? He would eventually have to leave after he found him, but if they didn't found Uzumaki?… well, he didn't have much of an option right now, so he would have to take care of those details later.

"You will also receive training as a Ninja of Konoha" Tsunade added as an afterthought, and if Naruto doubted before, now he had his mind totally made up.

"Soooooo, I will get to learn to do cool ninja stuff?" Naruto asked eagerly, glitter shining around his face, Tsunade chuckled at the sight

"Yes Naruto, you will learn to do 'cool ninja stuff' as you called it"

"YATTA!" he said jumping with a punch to the air "Now I'm all fired up! Where do I sign?"

"The papers are already there, they are yours after all… somehow" She needed to be careful on that matter, it was a hard thing to do knowing that he was… well, he, but saying that aloud would only push him away from them, so she had to be patient for now, oh goodie, lucky her that patience was one of her specialties, huzzah! (She is being sarcastic about the patience thing if you didn't noticed) "So you'll have to go under the name Naruto Uzumaki for now"

"Nah… I don't want to go _that _far, I said I would take his place, not his name, can't you make it so I can use my name?"

"Weren't you listening?! I told you that you using you name is what we are trying to avoid! Too much attention drawn on yourself and the village! Besides, the _paperwork…_" she shuddered at the idea

Naruto frowned, he would not take Uzumaki's name no matter what, that was just… wrong! There had to be something he could… he snapped his fingers as an idea came to his mind "Then, can you make it so I can use both names together?"

"Hmmm… maybe if we assign you a ghost guardian after the disappearance… some favors… yeah, that could work, it would also be much… really much less paperwork than your previous idea, and it can also be somewhat more discrete for other… issues about the parentage, so fine, you will now be Naruto Uzumaki Dragneel"

"Nope, that won't work"

"Then what do you suggest?" Tsunade was getting slightly annoyed… why so much trouble about the name anyway!

"It will be Naruto _Dragneel_ Uzumaki" He stated with a tone of finality and a grin ear to ear.


	3. Making up for the forgotten time

**(A/N): Aaaaand guess what? new chapter! (yay!) yeah... almost a week, even less I think, but thankfully I got the time and inspiration to kindda rush this one and keep it with my standards, hope you like it... weell, and we got REVIEWS (throws confety to the air) 4 for a single chapter is far more than I achieved so far (more that I have ever achieved I think) and I hope that they keep coming up, makes me feel that I'm doing this right :D so... answer time! :D**

**bi0nicc0mmand3r: Kurama is still kindda prideful despite his 'humanization' on Earthland, so having three tails showing all time tells that he is somewhat special, different from other exeeds, but not something he would brag about... think of it as something unconcious or stuff like that**

**dfelfkselkr: Oh indeed, he WILL reunite with his guild mates and brother not too far from now, I hope, but as a little spoiler... it won't be on Earthland, if ya' know what I mean ;D**

**OwO: Hmmm... Hinata... Can't tell you exactly what she did, but it's not something massively evil, like betrayin' the whole village or something like that, but it was more like betraying Naruto himself on a more personal level... a really more personal level, I'm sure it's not that hard to, at least, get a vague idea of what I'm saying but anyway can't tell details, down the road you'll learn what happened not only with her, but with the rest of the guys during the war**

**Special Hi! to shinto kami, hope you keep loving the fanfic, I'm really loving doing it for you guys and your support is all I need, 1k views on the first two chapters is really something that makes me feel proud of what I do, hope I can keep the rate and upload a chapter per week, not decreasing the lengh, now I'll let Jarvis explain some things of this chapter... Jarvis?**

**"Fine... first the flashback scene of the meeting Tsunade has at the begining is on MY perspective, Segaku found it more... entertaining that way, and no, this won't be a Harem fic, that scene with Ino was just for the laughts of it"**

**Yeah, I had some friends and a sister that are somewhat fangirls, so I foud that part somewhat amusing... **

**"Also, the last part when Naruto tells Tsunade about his life on Earthland... yeah, it's kindda long and all, maybe boring, so it's up to you to read it or not, but I'll suggest you give it a try and comment on how it was, totally crappy? or passable? dunno, up to you"**

**I really suffered with that, I tried to make short paragraphs about each main arc of the anime, but there is always something extra to add, it's not that imperative for the developement, but I tried to make it the most close to Naruto's perspective as the one telling the story and Tsunade being the one listening (yeah, on that part what is in parenthesis is what Tsunade thinks, not witty additions of Jarvis)**

**Sooo... that's all for now folks, hope you like this and please don't forget to REVIEW! it's like my food here, don't let me starve to death ok? (big puppy eyes with small pout) ON WITH THE STORY! :D**

**Disclaimer: bah... why do I even bother? No, I still don't own Naruto nor Fairy Tail... but soon... soon... (evil laughter)**

**Small update 18/02/2015: Finally got time to check this one and correct some things here and there, hope next chapter comes out soon**

* * *

><p>Chapter 3: Making up for the forgotten time<p>

_Thud_ "Ittai!" with a heavy sound Naruto once again hit the ground and glared the tree in front of him with such hate that if he could channel magic through them he would have recreated Amateratsu by now. It had been almost three days now with this tree-walking exercise, and even if at the beginning it had been challenging and interesting by now it had became boring and dull.

He had practically mastered the exercise the first day, walking up, down, around and in every possible way he could, much to Kakashi's surprise… The guy was a freak, at least for him, for the rest of the people in the village he seemed to be normal, or they were just used to him by now perhaps… anyway, the guy reminded him of Mistogun in some aspects like covering his face, or making him fall asleep, especially when he started giving lectures… seriously, teamwork was everything in the guild when working on groups, why remark that so much? But he guessed he was fine… well, until he found about that little orange book he usually read, and who its author was.

Surprisingly it was written by Tsunade-baachan's teammate, that Ero-jiji called Jiraya who was supposed to be a badass ninja, something called a Sanin… yeah, sure, and Makarov-jiji would end up dressing like master Bob… better remove the mental image of _that_ before the nightmares start.

At first he was curious about the book, as he saw that many people, mostly ninjas, bought it from the only bookstore that would sell them hidden between scrolls and other books, and thinking it was some kind of secret guide containing badass techniques or stuff like that he got what money he could (he had to use the money Uzumaki had saved on a frog-shaped plushy wallet, one he called Gamma-chan and kept with him because it was cool, seeing that his jewels were useless in this world) and bought a copy… only to turn it into ashes after the first chapter.

For someone who practically grew up around beautiful and strong (and sometimes not that restrained) women like Mirajane, Erza or Cana he came to see that they were not only the pretty faces others would see, but something entirely deeper; that's why he found that book utterly disgusting, so the next day when he saw Kakashi again with that damned orange book he walked towards him like he would usually do, and with a swift movement that caught the cyclops off guard he snatched the smut from his hand and burnt it into ashes.

The jounin stared him wide-eyed while Naruto cleaned the ashes from his hands with a scowl and glared him like challenging him to say something; Kakashi regained his usual lazy looking attitude and gave him an eye-smile that sent shivers down his spine "For today and as much time as I deem necessary you will be doing the tree-climbing exercise"

That's how Naruto got himself into this problem, and right now he was yawning out of complete boredom not really noticing that he was walking up and down the tree again and again, Kakashi near him 'supervising' him while reading another of those orange books and Kurama not too far from him taking a nap, the sun was already setting so he guessed Kakashi would soon call it a day, and almost cried of relief once the jounin did so.

Not caring to even say goodbye, not that the cyclops seemed to care, he walked as far and as fast as he could from that training field so he could plan a way to get some kind of revenge on him… "Hey Kurama, what would you consider as a good way to make the scarecrow pay? I was struggling between using Henge to impersonate him on the village and give him a social assassination, or sneaking up to him and give him a kick on _that_ place, so hard that it would end his career as a ninja, but would assure him one as soprano"

Even if Kurama remained uncaring on the outside, inside he flinched and got the idea that even that stoic bastard of Madara Uchiha would wince at such sight, knowing that Naruto had the strength to back up the claim "Even if the second one is quite appealing, I think I have an idea that would use his own punishment against himself"

"I'm all ears" Naruto said with a grin that Kakashi would learn to fear since now

* * *

><p>Tsunade was, once again, drowned up to her neck on paperwork; piles and piles of disgusting white sheets claiming her signature and laughing at her helplessness against them… she sighed tiredly and decided to take a rest when she actually started to hear giggles coming from the current sheet in front of her and focusing on something else other than her white torture her mind returned to a week and a half ago, when Naruto returned and met again with his old friends.<p>

_(Flashback)_

"Very well, now that that is settled I bet you wish to reunite with… emmm… meet the people around you, they were Naruto's friends" said Tsunade after finally getting an agreement with Naruto about his new name

"I feel odd, I know I'm different from Uzumaki, but every time you address him I can't help but feel that I should know you guys… now don't get it wrong, it's nothing like memories or stuff like that, but thinking back in Edolas, even if the guys from that Fairy Tail differed in personality with my world's Fairy Tail they were the same in essence. I don't know you guys, but you… even if I keep saying not to, you treat me as friendly as you would treat Uzumaki, and it makes me feel this is unfair"

"Don't worry Naruto, you resemble the hope we have in finding our Naruto, and if in the end you really are not him and you have to leave, we will search him even harder because you gave us hope that we will be able to find him someday" answered Tsunade

"I'll do this one favor to you as a sign of gratitude… I'll (sigh) play along with this… I can see it's hard for you to see this face and connect it with someone else… I still need to get to know you, but you can treat me as you are used to… damn, this is hard"

"Don't worry Naruto, we are all here to help you" Sakura assured him, standing still close to Naruto, and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder; Naruto blushed a bit remembering their first interaction some moments ago and again hid his face behind his scarf while mumbling a thanks

"Thank you… emmm… what's your name?" Sakura looked at him a bit confused, for a moment an image of the Naruto she remembered overlapped the embarrassed teenager in front of her and she forgot the situation he was in, but shaking her head she focused again and answered.

"Sakura Haruno, I'm your… emmm… 'His' teammate along with Sasuke Uchiha over there" she signaled over her shoulder to where Sasuke was

"Hn, dobe"

"Shut up, Teme!"

Sakura just giggled at the exchange, it looked so much like the old times "And Kakashi Hatake over there"

"Yo!" Kakashi greeted after being signaled, Naruto only gave him a weird look for a while, confused by his only visible eye, which was curved into what seemed to be a… a smile?

"Man, you're weird" Naruto blurted out "The only one weirder than you that comes to my mind right now is Mistogun, but I could at least see both his eyes"

"Thanks… I guess" Kakashi said wondering who the heck Mistogun was

"Heh, no problem!" Grinned Naruto and everyone sweatdropped

After that everyone started introducing themselves to Naruto with no big ceremony and as friendly as they could, a bit sad that he couldn't remember them, but with hope that given time he would, and so it went until Team 10 stepped ahead, specially once Asuma, Chouji and Shikamaru were done and was Ino's turn, she just stood there wide eyed and mouth open, openly staring Naruto with… hungry eyes?

"Ino-pig? Are you ok?" Sakura asked a bit worried about her friend; she mumbled something that no one managed to hear "What did you say? You're starting to worry us Ino…"

"H-hot…" She mumbled again, a bit louder this time, and pushing Sakura to a side she started to stumble towards Naruto like being in some kind of trace

When she finally reached him, why nobody stopped her beats me, Naruto was curious and a bit nervous, and when she started poking his biceps he got a bit embarrassed, not that this was the first time that happened, but he was not used to it… then she moved from his arms to his chest, openly exposed under his waistcoat, and kept poking. Now he started to feel uncomfortable, trying to think on why she was doing this but doing nothing to stop her afraid of doing something rude, nobody stopped her before after all; but when finally her hands moved to his belly, no longer poking but now openly touching, he jumped backwards immediately, totally freaked out "H-hey, don't d-do that again! It's u-uncomfortable!" he all but frantically shouted with a new shade of red covering his face.

The sudden outburst seemed to wake Ino from her dazed state, and once she realized what she was doing a deep blush covered her face and she backed away a bit "S-sorry Naruto, I d-didn't meant to… It's just that… you've grown, an your… body…" the glazed look returned and a red colored line stated to drop from her nose, and with a happy squeal she fainted… strangely only then the other women in the room noticed what Ino was talking about, being overjoyed by the news that the small child or, in some cases, the mature young man they missed so much had returned they didn't minded much the clothing, or lack thereof, and the view it offered.

Not long after that, Hinata (surprising huh?) joined Ino in the floor with crimson rivers flowing from her nostrils; she had to be evacuated to the hospital to get an emergency blood transfusion.

After taking Hinata to the hospital and waking Ino up Tsunade regained the control of the situation and spoke, trying to hide her own blush at the man her little brother was starting to become… what a man… "Now that the introductions are over we need to discuss the matter of your training" This of course caught Naruto's attention immediately, and helped him in forgetting the embarrassing situation he was put in moments ago.

"I don't think that will be necessary Hokage-sama, I'll take him as my student" Kakashi said stepping ahead "I was Naruto's old teacher, so it only seems fitting"

"What? The weird guy will teach me? No way, he gives me the creeps"

"Oh well, according to my reports, the only other team that could receive you is team 10, and I bet Ino would be more than happy to greet you there" the overjoyed squeal of 'Naruto-kun' he heard made him gulp "Besides that was Naruto's original team, team 7"

"Emmm… I guess I should honor that… I bet Uzumaki would like that too, right?" He finally conceded while scratching the back of his head nervously, that girl Ino was creepier than the scarecrow.

_(Flashback end)_

After that little exchange there were only small pointers Tsunade deemed necessary to tell Naruto about how life was on a ninja village, knowing how Naruto was, and not really aware of any special quirk he could have gotten during his time on that other world it was better to be safe than sorry.

Naruto looked downcast at the idea of no place like his 'guild hall' in the village where one could get, according to him, some good food and a good all out brawl to help digest said food afterwards; Tsunade wished to believe he was just joking, but deep inside she knew that was not the case. Naruto shrugged his worries off stating that if he didn't returned to his guild soon he would create something similar here once he befriended most of the village, or at least the other ninjas… she shivered at such idea, and knowing the skill the gaki had to make friends out of enemies she considered if bringing him back at the village as a first thought could be as dangerous as Pein's invasion for the village's infrastructure well being… she would have double checked that thought had she known the relation the dragon twins had with property damage back in Earthland.

"Hey Tsunade-baachan, that cyclops is not doing his job!"

Her eye started twitching at the return of the nickname, she would make sure to let Jiraya know her discomfort at signaling her as his teammate in front of the gaki, letting him deduce that they were of similar age… well, at least now he used the door "I bet he's just enforcing the basics, just-"

"Nu-uh, he's torturing me with that tree walking thing for burning that perverted book of his"

"You must be overlooking something, he's… wait, what?"

"I've already got done the three basic academy jutsus, but I can't make more than two decent bunshin, he told me that academy standard is three and that my problem was about catra control"

"It's chakra, Naruto"

"Whatever, so he taught me that tree climbing thing that was cool at the beginning, but now it's just agonizingly boo-ooring, all because I discovered that his orange book was actually porn and burnt it"

"Oh, so he did that?" then she smiled kindly and asked in an overly sweet voice that sent shivers down his spine "And how, may I ask, you discovered the contents of said book?"

"Emm… ehhh… you see… emm… Igotcuriousandboughtoneofthebooks"

"Oh, you did so?" she clearly understood the whole sentence, being already used to similar reactions from others

"Yeah… but I also burn it when I saw what was written in it!" he said hurriedly again "worst spent money ever" he added as an afterthought

Tsunade eyed him carefully for a second or two, before nodding in satisfaction "I hope so… so Kakashi did that? Well, let's prove what you claim, do each of the basic jutsus here, first go to the door and use kawamiri with the chair"

Naruto did as he was told, and instead of any handseal he just held his hand in front of him, only the index and middle fingers lifted, and a small seal array appeared on the chair before Naruto appeared on its place, making Tsunade jump in her place a bit startled "What was that?"

"You guys use that catra thingy to do your jutsus, but instead I use magic power that is fueled by Eternano and it reacts differently when I mold it to do your techniques, it seems that once I practice the jutsu enough the Eternano kind of memorizes it and then I can cast it like the rest of my spells only thinking about it, I added that hand thing so it would look like what you do, and because it looks badass, cool huh?"

Tsunade's brain worked overtime at that small explanation… oh the possibilities in such little details; there was no _poof_ of smoke or need to call neither the technique name nor the chain of handseals to cast it, stealthier escapes that would give an extra edge on narrow situations... if trained correctly such a simple jutsu could become an assassination one on his hands… "Now do a Henge" she ordered, doing her best to hide her growing interest and expectation to what the gaki could do now.

Naruto nodded and once again did that one hand seal and another shiny seal array appeared, this time under his feet, and a golden light engulfed him for a second before it died down, and then there was Kakashi in front of her.

"Yo!" he greeted in his usual lazy and bored self and even took out that small orange book from his kunai pouch and started reading it in front of her.

"K-Kakashi? Or is it you Naruto" The lazy jounin only gave her his trademark eye smile before turning a page on the book and resuming reading, Tsunade concentrated on sensing the chakra of the ninja in front of her, and was surprised to find that it was Naruto's mixed with that weird energy she supposed was the Eternano he kept talking about, and it took a solid shape, like some kind of hard shell around him… she was debating between being awed by the display of mastery, or punching the boy for reading that damned book in front of her so carelessly, after some thought she decided the first one would let her get some answers

"H-how… a Henge is only an illusion to make someone look like others, but you…"

Naruto released the henge and started explaining "There is a guy back in the guild named Gray, he uses a type of magic that is called Ice Make, and he uses his imagination to create things out of nowhere made of ice, so when the cyclops explained me how the henge was supposed to let you transform into other things I thought of 'constructing', like Gray says, a kind of costume of what I wish to transform into, and it seems it worked" he finished with a grin, before showing her the orange book that somehow stayed even after the Henge was released "I even managed to build this up from magic power, somewhat like what Gray does I think, but it still costs a bunch of energy to do, and it's not perfect but well… it's something, I guess" then he adopted a thoughtful expression "That other weird girl, Hinata I think, once looked me with that weird eyes of her and told me I had a lots of energy, but she kept saying it was that catra and muttered something about coils, but I didn't paid attention, it was pretty boring"

"How long can you keep the henge up?"

"Huh? Dunno, I feed the transformation with magic, so I guess it's fine until I stop it, but the stuff I create are actual things so they stay even after I release the transformation" he again waved the little orange book in front of her, she was starting to get angry at his chose of demonstration "But like I said it's quite heavy in my reserves to do… once I get back I'll ask the ice princess to help me with that"

"Wow…" was all she said once she took the book of Naruto's hand, it was actually solid, and to her surprise only the first chapter was written there, the rest were only blank pages… so that's what he meant with 'no perfect copies' but anyway, this could rival the Yang release in the field of creating things out of chakra with the use of mind, if trained further of course… just what kind of place was where things like this were normal? "now do the bunshin" she was too expectant to see the next jutsu that she didn't cared to hide her amazement, that made Naruto puff his chest in pride before getting a serious face and actually do handseals, when he held the last one another shiny seal floated in front on his hands and two other Narutos stepped out of him, no smoke, but this time he did called the name of the jutsu.

Slightly disappointed she stepped to the clones to check they were actually normal bunshins, the way he casted the jutsu was impressive, silent and all, but not that outstanding like the other two.

"So far I can't create more than two, I put as little juice on each one as I can, just like Kakashi told me, but like I said only two come out, the third disappears as soon as it appears or don't appear at all" then he released the clones and they just vanished like ghosts in thin air, Tsunade, being used to the usual _poof_ of smoke was a bit unnerved by this, she had to admit it was creepy.

"I know what your problem is, and I think I have also an answer to it… follow me" Tsunade said walking to a random wall in the room, and stood there doing some handseals that made a seal shine and with a click the wall opened just like a door, showing a hidden room behind it.

Naruto followed Tsunade into the dimly lit room, looking in awe all the scrolls neatly organized on tables and stands, but a particularly big one they were walking towards caught his attention, it felt as if it contained something he needed to know, but he shrugged the sensation as excitement at what kind of technique could a scroll that big contain; he was woken up from his little world when Tsunade spoke, already lifting and strapping the scroll to her back "Your problem is that you have simply too much chakra, or whatever energy it is that you use, and even if you somehow managed to do two clones your overall control over such large quantities won't allow you to do more than that, or even use the jutsu correctly during a fight"

Naruto looked downcast by this, so he couldn't use that jutsu because of something he could not control? Well, that sucked, he would have to do without it then "But there's a technique that could work perfectly for you, it's prohibited to other ninja because of the high cost to perform it in chakra terms, but with the huge reserves I can feel you have inside you could actually spam it" Tsunade said once again walking, now outside the room, and Naruto quick on her trail, once again exited at the idea of learning something new.

After sealing the secret room again she went to her desk and tapping a button there she called for Shizune, the Hokage's apprentice and assistant almost ended face first on the floor thanks to the chair that was still in front of the door and her hurriedly entrance to the room, but thanks to her ninja training and in a display of great flexibility se managed to support her body in one hand and twist in a way that let her end crouched in front of the chair, then with an indignant huff she put the chair back on it's place and directed a glare at the now sheepish Naruto and amused Tsunade

"I will be out with Naruto for the rest of the day, so cancel any meeting and make known that whoever who tries to interrupt my time with the gaki will have a painful ticket to the hospital, am I clear?" Shizune just nodded and stomped out of the office, still clearly annoyed at the small unconscious trap settled for her, Tsunade just shrugged it and grabbed Naruto's shoulder, shunshining both to a random training ground without previous warning.

* * *

><p>"Geez, at least you could have told before the pull" Naruto said shaking his head to wear off the drowsiness that came over him with the sudden fast movement<p>

"Don't complain, you are here to learn a new jutsu right?"

"Hell yeah! I'm all fired up! What will it be? Summon a super weapon of mass destruction? A beam of energy that destroys everything on its path?"

Tsunade only chuckled and shook her head "Nothing of that Naruto, I'll show you the Kage Bunshin no jutsu"

"Bunshin? More clones!? But I can't do more than two!" Naruto whined before Tsunade smacked his head, sending him to the ground and forming a small crater on impact "Ittai… why was that for?" Naruto said nursing a large bump on his head while dusting his hair from dirt

"If you paid more attention to what others say things like that wouldn't happen to you… like I said before this is a different kind of bunshin, this one uses a much larger amount of chakra than the normal one does because instead of only illusions you are creating solid clones with their own core of energy and capable of attacking your opponents, with your massive reserves this will be easier to learn than the normal bunshin, and it will also give you an extra help that I will show you once you master it"

"Ok, I'm sure I'll get this done on a couple of hours top"

"It's good you are confident in yourself Naruto, but this is an A-rank jounin Kinjutsu, the most talented one would take more than a couple of weeks to try it at it's most basic level, I'm only doing this because our Naruto had a similar situation with his amount of chakra, and it seems it would also work with you"

"Wanna bet? If I manage to learn it in that time you will have to teach me that teleportation jutsu you always use, what do you say?" Tsunade knew she shouldn't, but couldn't help but consider it… damn, she knew better than to make bets with Naruto Uzumaki, but maybe, just maybe that damned luck left him when he arrived on that other world he so much claims he was in, hell, maybe that luck thing was only an Uzumaki thing (even if she doubted it after the end that Kushina had… poor girl) but now that he claimed he was Naruto Dragneel she could finally get him back for that stupid bet that put her in all this mess years ago

"And if I win?" she asked almost sealing the deal between both

"Weeell, you always are complaining about paperwork right? Then how about I do it instead of you for a whole week if you win?"

"Deal" she answered immediately, not stopping to really think about it at the idea of finally getting rid of her damn white nightmare… no more giggles, no more giggles… "But you will have to learn it alone, I'll leave you the scroll and I will return later to check your progress, you fine with it?"

"Uh-huh" Naruto answered absentmindedly, already checking the information on the scroll, she only smirked and shunshined away to a bar, first day of her vacation week was meant to celebrate.

* * *

><p><em>(Time skip: 1:30hrs)<em>

After some cups of sake (not enough to smash her, but enough to make her feel woozy) she decided to better go check on the gaki, sure to find him still struggling with the jutsu. Sure, she knew the story that he learnt it alone in a matter of hours, but she always believed that it was an exaggeration from Iruka, seeing how he cares for the kid and would like to increase his self esteem, so she decided to spare Naruto of the paperwork, and even help him learning the jutsu if he had made noticeable progress during the time she was out; she could hate the paperwork, but Naruto had not done anything to condemn him to such torture... at least not yet.

Her brain stopped to work properly once she arrived the clearing where she left Naruto earlier.

The sight that greeted her was a sea of blonde hair, white scarves and bare chests, some were sparring, others were walking up and down trees and others were just talking between themselves while still checking the scroll of sealing. One tried to sneak up on her, but she noticed and acting on reflex she punched the clone, but instead of it disappearing in the usual _poof_ of smoke it turned pitch black and disintegrated, then all of the other Narutos stopped what they were doing, and said as one "Hey Tsunade-baachan, looks like I won!" and just like the one she punched, the other clones turned black and disappeared, while the only one left picked his waistcoat from the ground, and put it on after dusting it; for a moment he stumbled and put a hand to his head, but then he was fine again and walked towards Tsunade with a shit eating grin on his face.

"H-how did you knew I was here?"

"The bonus of the Kage Bunshin, the one you mentioned earlier I guess, they transfer memories once they disappear right? Kindda noticed it by accident… I can be very harsh with my own critics it seems…" he mumbled more to himself, but she heard it anyways and raised an eyebrow, looking that Naruto wouldn't tell more about it she just shrugged.

"No more bets with you… ever. And what about those clones? Why they turned black and faded when they were dispelled?"

"Aren't they supposed to do that? I mean, they are called _shadow clones_ for something right? So I thought I had to make them from shadows… is that wrong?"

"D-did you read all the instructions on how to mold the chakra for the technique?"

"Nope, too long and boring, so I jumped straight to the hand seals and guessed that I needed to send my magic power into the shadows to make them take the form of a clone… you were right on that thing that it was easier to pour more juice into this ones to make them solid"

"C-can y-you show me how you do them?" It all seemed so simple to Naruto, but to make clones out of shadows? Not even the Nara clan tried such a thing, for it would take far much chakra than a Kage Bunshin, even if they were the default shadow users of the village… to manipulate shadows to even form clones, with the same special properties of the Kage Bunshin? In theory this were _shadow clones_, clones made of shadows, but this new branch should be cataloged as a totally new kind of Bunshin, at least in her opinion

"Sure" Naruto answered, all that reasoning didn't took Tsunade more than a few seconds, and she paid clear attention to how he casted the jutsu "_Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"_ the usual cross shaped hand seal done by his hands, and again a shiny seal array appeared in front of his hands, and her, subconsciously expecting the usual poof of smoke, thought that the jutsu didn't worked when that didn't happened immediately after, but her trained eye caught something jump from under Naruto's feet, no… from _inside_ his shadow, but so fast she almost missed it, and then another Naruto was standing next to the original; she started poking the clone everywhere, and besides noticing that it was solid, she also took notice how toned was Naruto's body, he should have finally had someone who cared about his nutrition, and someone who took care on his training too, that idea made her smile.

"H-hey! Stop it Baa-chan!" The clone said while blushing a bit "This is uncomfortable, I'm leaving boss" and then the clone dispelled itself like the others, when Naruto received the memories he also blushed a bit and scratched his cheek in embarrassment

"D-don't that again Tsunade-baachan, it felt awkward, almost like when that girl Ino…" he then blushed even more and hid his face behind his scarf

Tsunade smiled kindly and shook her head in amusement "Then why don't you use more clothes on? Many girls here would be more than happy to have a chance to do the same"

"W-what?! Why?" Tsunade gave him a deadpan look but he seemed as oblivious as always, was that kind of clothing that usual on that other world? Naruto looked downwards and started playing with a small pebble on the ground with his feet "Is it because how I dress? But I have to… Natsu-nii uses the same outfit I use but with different colors, and I like this clothing, but also I use it because of my magic, it increases my body heat naturally, and I also generate more heat than Nii-san so I can only be cool on this clothing, any more and I start to feel uncomfortable"

"Then what about that scarf? Wouldn't be better if you just took it off?"

"No way! That's different; this was a gift from our father before he left…" Naruto suddenly looked a bit downcast, but cheered up a bit after remembering something "He was… no, he IS a great dad, big and powerful… he was the one who taught us our magic and kept us safe, Kurama once fought against him" he then signaled her to lean closer and he whispered on her ear as if it was one big secret "Don't tell him that I told you, but he can transform on a really big fox with six huge tails, but not as big as dad"

Tsunade jerked her head so fast it almost snapped and stared wide eyed and gaping at the blonde in front of her, perfect impression of a fish, while trying to process the idea of something _bigger_ than the damned _Kyuubi no kitsune_ "Who or _what_ on the nine hells is your father Naruto?"

"Emm… you won't believe me… nobody does…" He looked downcast when he said that last part, and Tsunade, noticing it, put a hand on his shoulder to get his attention, and when he saw her she smiled reassuringly and nodded, making him understand that she would listen and understand him no matter how crazy what he was going to tell her was going to sound

Naruto felt unsure at first, but after seeing her face the doubt vanished, that face told him that she would support him and that he could trust her with his life; it was weird because, even in the guild, when he spoke about Igneel with Natsu they would usually receive looks of 'stop inventing that' or only snorts in answer, not because they mocked them, but because they would not believe them, it took Gajeel and Wendy to join the guild for everyone else, besides the master, to even consider the idea, but this old woman in front of him (even if she used an illusion to hide her true age) that he only knew for some time showed him such trust that it felt weird… were they so convinced he belonged here? He shook the idea off and refocused on the present; Tsunade-baachan was still waiting for an answer, so he inhaled deeply and let the air out slowly.

"My father… is a dragon" he then closed his eyes to not see her trying to hold her laughter or see that deadpan look most would give him, how surprised he was when she only whistled, not in a mocking but in a surprised way

"Now that I look carefully, that scarf looks scaly and also has a weird energy stored on it… a dragon, huh? Does he have a name?"

Now Naruto was the one dumbstruck… was she serious? Did she really believed him? The biggest smile he had came to his face and started to speak excitedly, happy that for once somebody paid interest on the story of his father "Yeah! He's called Igneel and he's the king of the fire dragons, one of the strongest there are!"

"So, there are more dragons?"

"Yeah, or at least there were… some years ago they all disappeared and nobody else saw any of them again… Natsu-nii and I are looking for Igneel along with Happy and Kurama, but there are also other Dragon Slayers who are looking for their dragons too"

"Dragon Slayers? I thought you were their sons"

"We are, it's just the name of our kind of magic. It's called like that because its dragon magic, and only one dragon can kill another dragon"

"Oh… so, are this other Dragon Slayers your friends?" she said while sitting cross legged on the ground signaling that she would hear all he had to say, he followed her example and kept talking while sitting on the ground too

"Well… there are other two on the guild, one is Gajeel Redfox, son of Metalicana the iron dragon, he's not exactly friendly but he's fine I guess, and there's also Wendy Marvell, daughter of Grandeney the sky dragon, she's a nice little girl and everyone on the guild likes her, it's kindda weird story on how each one got inside the guild"

"Go ahead and tell me Naruto, I'm all ears"

"Well, if I'm going to tell you that then I guess I'll tell you the whole story right?" Tsunade nodded eagerly despite herself and Naruto started to tell her his adventures on Earthland.

* * *

><p>He started his tale with his first clear memory in the forest, not really remembering much before that, and how there he met Kurama and Natsu, how he was raised by Igneel after Kurama fought against the dragon for his sake, this surprised Tsunade as she always believed that the fox was a selfish and arrogant being; then he moved onto how 'Makarov-jiji' found them on the forest a year after Igneel disappeared and then the three of them joined Fairy Tail, the friends they made there and the jobs they did, how they thought a close friend died only to find her years later on another world, "I'll explain that later" he said.<p>

After a small rest where Naruto went to get something to drink for both from a conveniently close soda machine he started with most recent events, starting on how he met a girl called Lucy when he went to a town along with his brother following a rumor that could possibly lead them to Igneel, Tsunade resisted the urge to facepalm at the idea of even considering to find a massive dragon on a city… he kept narrating, totally oblivious of his foolish reasoning at the time, on how they saved her from getting kidnapped and convinced her to join the guild, and then some time telling how cool and awesome (and scary sometimes) she was, Tsunade noticed a crush right away, if the slight blush on his face while he kept talking about her was any indicator, but decided against teasing him, the gaki was opening to her and telling his life, the least she could do was listen without interrupting.

Finishing with the 'Lucy elegy' as Tsunade mentally called that part of his tale, he continued on how many of his friends in the guild were, and she didn't found odd how he fitted on that place; some missions he went to with his guild mates, who he called his _nakama_ (she knew what nakama meant as a word, but that guild seemed to have given a new meaning to it, something akin to the Will of Fire according to Naruto's explanation) and how the 'cool jobs', as he called them, started

First they had to stop a 'dark guild', something akin to what Akatsuki was in the elemental nations, but in mayor quantity there, after they stole a flute called 'Lullaby' which was an artifact that could kill whoever listened it's sound, and after a long chase his team (Erza, Natsu, Grey, Happy, Kurama, Lucy and him) stopped them from killing the guild masters, who were in a meeting (huh, what was it with the evil guys attacking leaders meetings) only to said flute transform into a huge monster/demon that tried to kill them all, but they stopped it nonetheless.

Then how Happy stole an S-rank job for them (Tsunade almost smacked him again for being so reckless) and they traveled to an island where they fought against an old friend of Gray, the guy of the Ice Make magic, that tried to resurrect a demon called 'Deliora' that their master sacrificed herself to stop, just to prove that he was better than her and Gray, only to find later that the demon was already dead, and said old friend decided to join another guild and get stronger in the right way.

Sometime later after that they found that one of his guild mates was really a celestial spirit, something similar to summons summarized Tsunade after the vague explanation Naruto gave her, and confessed that he didn't knew really what happened besides that Lucy saved him from dying and that she met the King of the spirits while doing that, something akin to the boss summon, and gaining him as another summon, so he really didn't left the guild but was like some kind of reinforcement.

Loke (the guild mate/celestial spirit) then gave them tickets to a vacation resort and they decided to take a small vacation there, only to meet some of Erza's childhood friends (only then he explained that she could 're-equip' many armors and weapons from something like a pocket dimension) that worked on a weird tower in order to resurrect some powerful dark mage that was the equivalent of Madara Uchiha to them, called Zeref, and how his group had to fight against them and finally face another old friend that Erza thought she would never see again called Jellal, but how in the end Natsu defeated him and saved Erza, while Naruto had to face other enemies along with the other people on their group.

Not long after that another Guild called Phantom Lord attacked their guild building and harmed a group of their guild mates, making Makarov-jiji so mad that he declared war against them, but they injured him gravely during a fight forcing them to retreat. Sometime later they fought against them again when they attacked with some kind of robot (Tsunade had no idea what was that) that shoot lasers with enough power to destroy the whole town only because they wished to take Lucy away from them, he and Natsu faced some mages called 'the Element four' (Naruto said they had control over the 4 basic elements, but Tsunade found weird that Lightning wasn't included there) to stop that robot-machine thing from firing another laser after Erza singlehandedly stopped one of those; he defeated the remaining ones while Natsu first faced the other dragon slayer, Gajeel, but Naruto took his place sometime later and he went to face the guild Master, some guy called Jose Porla who was also part of the wizard saints; Lucy (She really seemed to appear every time and Tsunade was not sure if it was because she played a role there, or he noticed her more because of his crush) helped him defeat Gajeel and Natsu stalled the other guild master enough time for Master Makarov to recover and finish the fight with a super powerful spell (as Naruto called it) named 'Fairy Law' and after that Gajeel and one of those Element four mages called Juvia Loxar joined the guild.

Then he told her how Laxus, the master's grandson, and his group called 'Raijinshuu' (The thunder god tribe) forced them to fight each other to save their guild girls from a spell that transformed them into stone statues, how he and Natsu couldn't do much because of runes that kept them out of the fight until another guild mate called Elfman defeated Evergreen, the one who casted the spell, and the girls unfroze, letting one of then called Levi rewrite the runes so they could help the rest (Tsunade meanwhile was trying to figure out what the hell runes were… by the description they seemed something like Fuuinjutsu) and then how Laxus went nuts after his first plan failed and tried to detonate the whole city, but he and Erza 'sacrificed' themselves for the safety of the city and their guild mates, and detonated the lacrimas (huh?) and received the damage themselves, letting Natsu fight against Laxus, who in the end was another Dragon Slayer that unlike them had no dragon, but a lacrima (again that? What IS a lacrima?) That gave him the powers, and then once again the master ended the fight, but this time talking to his grandson, and expulsing him from the guild.

After that they faced another dark guild called Oración Seis, and even made an alliance with other guilds to fight against them, and discovered that they were after some ancient magic called Nirvana, that basically turned good into evil and evil into good; they even met again with Jellal but this time he helped them, he faced a guy called Brain when he tried to turn Natsu evil, and somehow he defeated him, but when the rest of the alliance defeated the other members of the dark guild, the Brain guy woke up again and started to call himself Zero; this time it was Natsu who defeated him with the help of Jellal and some weird flame that gave him more power, then they destroyed that Nirvana thing and saved the world, Jellal got arrested and Wendy joined Fairy Tail along with another exeed called Charle.

Then came their incursion on that other world called Edolas that he had explained before, so she was somewhat familiar with all he told her now, she only noted important now how that girl, Lissana, that they thought was dead was actually in that other world, how the guy he compared Kakashi with, Mistogun, was actually Jellal's counterpart on Edolas and was even a prince, and that the exeeds were originally from that world… well, he told how in the end they defeated the bad guys, how in a massive collaboration attack he and Natsu, with the help of Gajeel and Wendy, defeated another robot, now with the form of a dragon (what the HELL is a robot!) that was commanded by the mad king that wished to steal the magic, and then they destroyed the machine that created the portals that sucked up the magic, and how it reversed then sucking all with magic back to Earthland, so they returned back to home like nothing ever happened… well, besides 'Lissana-neesan', as he called her, returned home and all the exeeds now living there on a forest… oh, and Panther lily now becoming Gajeel friend and also joining Fairy Tail.

And finally he ended with his brother leaving for something similar to the Chunnin exams, so he could raise on rank to be an S-rank mage, able to do higher ranked jobs, and him being sucked up into the Elemental Nations while returning from doing a job, it was far past midnight when he finished but Tsunade didn't minded it, the boy had opened to her and she was thankful of that.

* * *

><p>"Hey Tsunade-baachan, you didn't taught me that teleportation jutsu!"<p>

"Don't worry Naruto, go rest and seek me tomorrow morning on the Hokage tower, I'll train you personally and also give you a new teacher"

"Ok baa-chan" he said while yawning, he was kind of sleepy after all "See ya' tomorrow then" and so he started to drag his feet back to his apartment, clearly exhausted. Once he was out of sight Tsunade let the tired sigh she was holding out.

"He really has a life and a family there, and he also was so happy telling me about all that he went through with that weird group of people…is it fair to take him away from that because we miss him?" She shook her head and tried to think of something else, of course he needed to stay, he belonged here after all! But she couldn't help but feel guilty when she remembered with awe all that Naruto told her he experienced on Earthland.


	4. Breaking some more standards

**(A/N): Hey! finally uploading (finally!) I tried to do that yesterday but due to some... technical problems, I guess, I couldn't log in, so here it is the new chapter, a day later than first planned... sorry for not uploading before but well, time was not on my side, but on a brighter note it seems I have some talent to become a Barman :D Who would have thought? anyways, back to the fic... last week I only got one review, not complaining, but after getting 4 for only one chapter, it felt kindda sad, and like nobody reclaimed about that large part on the end of the last chapter I can deduce that either it was not that bad, or that nobody read it, I hope it was the first one, anyway, hope you like this new update, I even searched for a music theme to accompany one part of the chapter, and I also got part of the next chapter done in a notebook, so maybe it will come out sooner than this one, first I have to finish it and then edit it, I don't know how that 'Beta reader' thing works so I do it alone, if someone could explain me that I would be relieved, editing is kindda the hardest part of this, adding and taking things out of the first plan is, if not boring, a long process that takes quite some time... well, the only review I got before was answered in a PM but I guess it has a good point, maybe some people gets confused with all that space-time-dimmension hopping thing I did for the fic, so here's a small sumary of the base plot.**

**In the elemental nations had passed only 4 years since the group of 7 (Tsunade, Kakashi, Sakura, Lee, Shikamaru, Hinata and Sasuke) returned back in time, with the help of Naruto's humongous chakra reserves and some kind of extra use they discovered in the Hiraishin seal array, but Madara Uchiha attacked them just when they were about to do the jump, so Naruto stalled him enough time to let them return while he jumped heavily injured by Madara, the mix of Kyuubi chakra healing him, the space-time distortion and the injury itself ended in Naruto arriving in Earthland at the age of 5, with Kurama out of the seal with the physicall aspect of an Exeed and Naruto without memories.**

**Now, like Earthland is another world in another... dimension you could say, the time span there is different than in the Elemental Nations, so when that time-space portal sucks Naruto back in the Elemental nations he is 16 years old, just like the others there, but he had actually spent 11 years on Earthland rising with Natsu and Igneel, now this fanfic doesn't follow the cannon of the war that is on the manga or anime, well, not totally, it's another story were Naruto managed to make Sasuke return to Konoha some time after their encounter on the bridge after the gokage summit, so don't confuse yourself with this and the cannon **

**Thanks butterflypuss for making me notice that :D, today there's not special anounce for Jarvis so let's go on**

**"But hey! I want to-" **

**Like I said, he doensn't want to appear here today, so don't forget to like the story if you like it and review... please review... preety please with cookies on top? Oh really, this is the last chapter of the introduction arc, from the next I start with the meld between some of Shippuden's plot and Fairy Tail, and someone will make his/her appereance during a very well known test... who will it be? what test? wait another week for the next chapter hehehehe ... ON WITH THE STORY! :D**

**Disclaimer: Nah, still don't own Fairy Tail nor Naruto, last plan didn't worked... who would have thought changing the name on every manga and anime on internet would take so much time? **

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><p>Chapter 4: Breaking some more standards<p>

Kurama finally got some time alone, not that he wished to ditch Naruto, but since all this mess started he had to be glued to the blonde teenager day and night in fear that any Konoha-nin would try and play dirty to make Naruto stay, but now he had sent Naruto to Tsunade and he trusted the old hag enough to let her take care of Naruto, so now he finally had some time to relax and check the village.

After he suggested Naruto to go directly to Tsunade and tell her about Kakashi and how he needed some serious training Naruto darted faster than he had saw him in a long time towards the Hokage tower, he said that he would go to the forest and relax there, so he would be waiting for him back in the apartment, but instead he silently followed him for a while trying to hear what the villagers were thinking about his return.

"Was that the kyuubi brat?"

"Nah, that demon was declared dead 4 years ago, surely the Uchiha heir freed us from him, I heard he returned pretty damaged"

"Then who was that? He looked just like a grown up version of him"

"I've heard rumors that he's called Naruto Dragneel"

"Wasn't that brat's name Naruto too?"

"Yeah, but he was a ninja, this one doesn't have one of those headbands ninja use"

"Then maybe… do you think the boy the demon used to live inside was freed then?"

"If you put it in that perspective… maybe, it would make sense that once the demon was dead the boy he was impersonating would be set free, maybe this is how the boy was supposed to be"

"I've heard my daughter say that he already has a fanclub, and he's not even that known around the village"

"Hmmm, those clothes he use surely could make any girl drool, I guess, but now that I saw him closer, doesn't he looks like… Yondaime-sama?"

"Yeah… there is some resemblance in the hair and the eyes, maybe that's a good sign, I hope he joins the ninja force of the village"

"Naruto Dragneel huh? I look forwards to the boy's development"

"Yeah, me too"

Kurama shook his head in irritation, almost every other villager that saw him said that Naruto was possessed, or that the _demon_ had the boy captured and he took his shape, or things in that line of thought. They were all fools, even more than Ichiya, and that was already something, but in some twisted way they also had some truth in their words; Naruto was indeed free from his burden once he 'died' , free from the curse of being a Jinchuuriki, free from promises he made to people that he considered precious to him, but that in the end betrayed that trust… he was free to live a full life this time, and so he did, he got a true family and friends, he grew up with the warmth of being acknowledged, something Uzumaki strived all his life.

Shaking the depressing thoughts away, and pleased that at least the village meant no harm to Naruto he went for his small stroll on the forest and then headed to the apartment, ready to take a nap… until he was woken up by a joyful Naruto some time later

"Kurama, hey Kurama (yawn) wake up!"

"Urgh… come on kit, I'm trying to sleep here"

"But Kurama, it's past midnight! (Yaaaawwwwn) I've been outside with Tsunade-baachan the whole afternoon and night! (Yaaaawwwn)"

Kurama cracked open his eyes, and noticed that despite his exited voice Naruto was barely awake, his eyes were open just because he refused to close them yet and his clothes were dirty, surely because of some training "You should rest Naruto, it seems you are quite tired"

"But Kurama (yaaaawwwwn) I have to tell you…" the words started to sound sluggish, sleepiness was starting to overcome him "She believed me…"

"Who believed what Naruto?" Kurama asked now curious

"Tsunade-baachan, I told her (yaaaawwwwn) about Igneel" his voice was practically a whisper now, he was just about to fall asleep "she… believed me…" The eyelids finally became too heavy to keep struggling and he closed them, almost falling to the floor if not for Kurama catching him first and taking him to his bed flying, once he set himself to continue his sleep Kurama saw Naruto snore softly and with a content smile on his face.

The next day came uneventfully, Naruto woke up quite early feeling fully rested, which he found weird because of the hour he returned the apartment yesterday, but shrugged it off and walked out of the bedroom into the hall/kitchen and saw Kurama still rolled in himself sleeping on the small couch, and remembering that he would need something for breakfast because today he would train with Tsunade-baachan he decided that he would prepare something for both of them, he was on a good mood after all and Makarov-jiji was nowhere near, so there was no problem now.

For the first time since he arrived at the apartment he opened the small fridge close to the kitchen and was surprised that it was filled with food ready to be cooked, stuff going from vegetables to cooking ingredients he didn't recognized at first sight "I don't think this was here when we arrived… well, I'll thank whoever brought this once I find out, but for now… what could I use?" he hummed in thought eyeing the food there for some time, until he decided what he would use and took it out of the fridge to start cooking.

He had finished cleaning and cutting meat and vegetables, and was ready to put the stuff to fire, but then he noticed a small detail he forgot to remember before "How did Mira told me to use a kitchen?"

Kurama woke up with the pleasant smell of house made food in the air, and it smelled just like Mira's food back in the guild, but after opening his eyes and remembering where he was he dismissed the idea and poked his head over the couch to where the kitchen was, and saw Naruto standing there with a pot of something on one flame-covered hand, seemingly cooking, while tasting and adding other things to it with the other hand, and the kitchen behind him looked like if someone tried to cook a exploding tag inside it "Kit, are you cooking?"

"Yup! I found the fridge full of food so I decided to prepare something for breakfast for the both of us"

"What happened to the kitchen?"

"Well… it kindda exploded a little when I couldn't remember how to turn it on and I tried to set it on flames with my fire, but a weird symbol appeared on the floor and it turned off without even smoking, soooo I decided to use my fire to cook… quite practical I may say" He tasted the food once again and nodded in approval " Grab that bowl over there, it's ready" Kurama did as told and Naruto poured some food on it, he smelled it wearily and Naruto rolled his eyes "It's not poisoned, stop being such a pussy and eat" and then he grabbed a bowl for himself, pouring some food on it and starting to eat.

Kurama licked suspiciously first, but once he tasted the stew-thing that Naruto had prepared his eyes widened, he looked at Naruto, then back to the bowl, and then he started inhaling the food not unlike Naruto used to do with Ramen, and once he finished (surprisingly before Naruto) he stretched his paws holding the bowl to Naruto, and an expecting look on his eyes, Naruto understanding the unspoken petition poured more food into Kurama's bowl while grinning, he would even dare to say he saw tears of joy in the small fox's face. Once there was no more food Kurama finally regained his wits and asked in a bewildered voice "H-how?"

"Well… one day Natsu-nii was away in a mission and I was totally bored, I think you were in the forest hunting or doing something like that, so I saw Mira in the bar also bored and I asked her if she could teach me how to cook, the days I used to arrive late at home I stayed at the guild's kitchen with Mira, then… was it that good?"

"Damn it kit, had I know you were such a good cook… wait, if you knew how to cook, then why you never prepared something?"

"Makarov-jiji once entered the kitchen when I was finishing cooking, and he said that if I didn't made the kitchen explode while doing it then it deserved to be tasted at least, after he ate all I prepared alone he made me promise that I would never prepare something to others until I made S-rank mage while crying, he mumbled something about other guilds trying to kidnap me if they ever tasted my food or massive guild migrations because of me…"

Kurama only raised an eyebrow but decided to not keep questioning about that, Naruto was an excellent cook and he had him for himself, that was all that mattered to him right now "Hey, are you not going to train today?"

"Yeah, Tsunade-baachan told me to…" his eyes widened like realizing something and turned his head to where he knew he would find a clock, and seeing the hour he cursed "Shit! I'm late!" and then the door flung open, and a cloud of dust where Naruto was sited was the only proof he ever was on the room, Kurama then floated to the bedroom and saw outside through the window to spot a distancing trail of dust headed to the Hokage tower, so guessing that was Naruto running he sighed and followed it

Naruto arrived at the Hokage tower shortly after his mad dash, and while he got his breath back he greeted the ninja guarding the entrance "Yo! Tsunade-baachan told me to look for her here today, where do I find her?"

"Ehhh… Hokage-sama is currently in the mission assignment room" he said while pointing Naruto on the direction of said room looking at him curiously ; after thanking him Naruto ran in the direction he was pointed, and shortly after the ninja saw a small fox flying enter the tower… wait, a fox FLYING!?

"Blonde spiky hair, white scarf and a tattoo on one bicep" the fox stated nonchalantly and the dumbstruck chunnin signaled him on the direction Naruto went some seconds before, the fox thanked him and kept flying towards that direction, the ninja only shook his head and sighed tiredly "I think I need a vacation"

"Sorry I'm late Tsunade-baachan!" Naruto practically shouted as he entered the mission assignment room, all the ninjas there immediately turned and directed him confused and annoyed looks

"I'm telling you kit, one day that big mouth of yours will bring even more problems than it already does" Kurama said entering the room behind Naruto, then floated over the blonde's head and dropped over it just like Akamaru used to do when he was still a puppy on Kiba's head

"Yosh! I see your flames of youth are burning brightly today Naruto-kun! I promise I'll do my best on today's mission to fan mine and make them burn brighter!" Said a weird-looking and over enthusiast guy on a green spandex suit with a green jacket over it, Naruto's eyes fixated on the bowl haircut and in the abnormally huge eyebrows he knew shouldn't exist in a normal world, he immediately catalogued it between Master Bob's outfit and that guy Midnight cross-dressing outfit on his most disturbing things ever saw… he still couldn't decide if Midnight was a he or a she

"Emmm… thanks, I think… Lee was it?" Naruto answered/asked a bit afraid of the shining smile the other boy was giving him

"Of course you will do Lee-kun, and if you can't I'll climb the Hokage monument ten times with an arm tied to my back!" Naruto almost had a heart attack by the sudden outburst from behind him, only to jump back in horror when he met a grown up version of the boy that was in front of him, haircut and eyebrows perfectly emulated, and a disturbing brighter smile directed to him

"Gah! Bushier brows!" was all he managed to say then, and the spandex beast jumped to were his mini-me was and kneeled before him.

"Oh no… everyone shut your eyes!" Said the until now amused Tsunade, and everyone did as she ordered, well, everyone except Naruto

"And if you can't do that I'll run five hundred laps around Konoha on my hands Gay-sensei!" Lee exclaimed totally oblivious to the panicking nin around them

"Lee!"

"Gay-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gay-sensei!"

"Naruto!" Naruto exclaimed his own name not quite following what was happening but suddenly feeling as energetic as the weird duo in front of him, but it was suddenly cut off when his brain froze trying to process the sudden change in scenery in front of him

Gone was the mission assignment room and instead he found himself staring at the two spandex green beasts hugging each other while crying in a… manly way in what seemed to be a shore above the sea, waves crashing behind them and the sun positioned on a never ending sunset. Only once they broke of their hug and sobered everything returned to normal.

Tsunade saw Naruto just standing there staring with a blank look, and if it wasn't for the blinking every now and then she would have confused him for a statue, so she walked to where he was and made one of her hands shine with a green light to check his status.

"I think they broke him" Kurama said still on his head, determining it was safe to open his eyes again once he heard the room return to a somewhat normal movement noise

"No, It's just the shock of the first time experiencing the 'sunset of youth', It'll wear off in some more time" then she turned to Shizune, who still had a hand extended waiting for Lee to take the mission scroll "Take care of everything while I'm gone with the gaki, if someone insist in seeing me repeat the threat I used for yesterday" When Shizune nodded Tsunade grabbed Naruto's shoulder and shunshined away

"Yosh! Gay-sensei, they are going to train and so we should do to keep our flames of youth burning brightly!"

"Then let's go Lee-kun, let's show our youthfulness to the world, and if we can't…" their voices faded in the distance as they shot running out of the office surely towards a training ground, Shizune only sighed and put away the scroll that she still held on a hand, hopefully Lee would return later.

When Naruto finally regained consciousness he found himself on what looked to be a training ground, and shuddered at the sudden image that jumped to his mind of two green… things hugging each other, and trying to make the memory go away he started scanning his surroundings only to find the usual layout of a training field: training dummies, trees and bushes on the borders, an unconscious white haired guy, a clear spot to spar, a… wait, an unconscious white haired guy? He walked close to him and then recognized him as Jiraya, the perverted teammate of Tsunade-baachan.

"Hey Ero-jiji, are you alive?" Naruto asked while poking a huge lump on his head with a stick he found nearby, a groan and a twitch signaled that indeed he was still alive, so he decided to leave the poor old man alone, and since he was already here he would use the chance to train with another jutsu he learned yesterday from the big scroll, and making his self-created one hand seal three clones jumped out of his shadow, yesterday he used the hand seal only to show off with baa-chan, and grinning like a madman he gave them instructions "Well guys, ya' know the drill, get some distance between yourselves 'cause this will be a blast… yeah!"

Far away from Konoha, an Iwa S-ranked blonde haired missing nin sneezed.

"I must thank you Tsunade" Kurama said suddenly while floating besides Tsunade returning from a store in the village, like today's training would be tiring (for Naruto) and would also take great part of the day she decided to get some snacks for them and Kurama tagged along not wanting to babysit two unconscious men

"Huh? What are you talking about fox?"

"For listening the kit yesterday, he's always been reluctant to tell people that his father is a dragon, usually people snort at that or just plain don't believe him, but according what he told me you patiently listened to him and actually believed his story"

"You should give us some more credit Kyuubi, geez, here we can summon building sized talking animals, you were a proof of that, dragons existing are not that hard to believe; besides we both know who his true parents are"

(sigh)"Keep that to yourself Tsunade; you know what I think about that"

This time it was Tsunade who sighed, but hers was more tired and sounded resigned "The boy told me his whole story, and I can understand your reluctance to let him stay, he really has a life made there and a deep crush on that Lucy girl by what I heard… he really deserves that, specially after what he had to endure on that last weeks…"

"Uzumaki is gone, along with that memories so leave it like that, I'm sure you will miss him once the time to leave arrives but it's your time to make a sacrifice to let him be finally happy, look at it as some kind of making amends with him"

"I know that, and I will support you in what I can, but the others…"

"Don't worry Tsunade" replied Kurama with a soft smile "For now it's enough for me that at least one of you can understand" Tsunade smirked at the alien expression on the fox face, well, at least alien for her

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, now we will start hugging each other" both snorted at the claim " But I would really like to meet this-" BOOM! A loud explosion sounded in the general direction of the training ground they left Naruto and Jiraya, and exchanging worried looks Kurama grabbed Tsunade's jacket and dashed flying towards the explosion, while a hysteric Tsunade screamed bloody murder to the fox.

When they arrived the scene before them wasn't the one they were expecting… well, not totally because there was indeed a huge crater surely caused by the explosion, but they also noticed that Jiraya was pale on the branch of a tall tree, hanging in a very similar way to a scared cat, looking wide eyed to the laughing Naruto on the ground, said blonde was having problems breathing and grabbing his sides which were surely hurting, Tsunade cleared her throat to get their attention.

"Oh, hi Tsunade-baachan!" Naruto cheerfully greeted once he sobered up a little and managed to breath normally again

"Care to explain what happened?" Tsunade asked clearly irritated, not that Naruto noticed and his smile widened even further

"Well, I was practicing another jutsu I got from that huge scroll you lend me yesterday, but the explosions were not as large as I expected"

Tsunade frowned, another jutsu? So besides learning the Kage Bunshin again he managed to snatch another jutsu from the scroll? She only voiced her more immediate worry "Explosions?"

"Yeah! Oh really, you didn't knew, look _Kage Bunshin no jutsu!_" and doing his one hand personal seal four clones jumped out of his shadow and distanced between themselves, and then he did his one hand seal again and called _"Bunshin Daibakuha!" _A small shiny magic seal floated in front of his hand and one of the clones grinned and waved goodbye before he went off on a mid sized explosion "See? I tried all that came to my mind but it wouldn't grow…"

"B-but Naruto… that explosion was strong enough to take down half the ninja force in Konoha!"

"Huh? But Natsu-nii caused stronger explosions with his fire when he fought against Gajeel"

"Kit" Intervened Kurama "Half the ninja force in Konoha doesn't have fire immunity nor Iron scales to endure it"

"So… the other half has it?" Naruto asked looking exited

Tsunade, Jiraya and Kurama sweatdropped and facepalmed at the same time "is he really that idiot?"

"Sometimes he's just a clone of his brother"

Naruto just smirked and shook his head in an amused way "It's easy to mess with you guys, of course I knew that!" well, actually for a moment he considered what he told Kurama, but when he saw the disbelieving looks on their faces he noticed his mistake, but decided against making his realization noticeable… at least he was observant this time, let's give the boy that.

Tsunade growled and her right eye twitched, and she asked in a forced voice "Then what caused _that_ explosion?"

The smirk on Narutos face disappeared immediately and answered before Tsunade decided to train pain resistance with him "The old pervert woke up and told me to compensate quality with quantity, so I did this" he nodded to the remaining clones and they jumped in a pile over an imaginary opponent while Naruto did his handseal again and called "_Tajuu Bunshin Daibakuha!" _ BOOM! Another crater appeared on the training ground once the smoke and dust cleared, and some debris still fell from the sky, Naruto was again rolling with laughter in the ground and the two Sannin exchanged worried glances while Kurama only rolled his eyes "You should have saw the pervert's face, it was so hilarious… I wouldn't be surprised if he pissed his pants with the size of the explosion!"

Tsunade then glared at Jiraya, who was glaring daggers at the still snickering Naruto "And you suggested THIS!"

"I didn't saw the force of a single explosion, I swear! Once I regained consciousness, not thanks to you I might add" he said on an annoyed tone with a small pout now glaring at Tsunade, who glared back and made Jiraya gulp and keep talking "he was ranting about weak explosions, so I told him that a lot of small explosions together would make up for a big one" Tsunade eyed him carefully, as if testing if he was telling the truth

"I'll believe that for now, there's a schedule to clear too and we are just loosing time now so get you ass down from that tree you old pervert" and then she glanced to the smirking blonde "And no more explosions here or there will be no training today!" Naruto sobered immediately, stood straight and gave a salute to Tsunade saying "Yes ma'am"

"Today's training will be a bit different from your usual, so summon as many clones as you can"

Naruto gave her a confused look but nodded and did as instructed "_Tajuu Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"_ and instead of jumping from his own shadow the clones appeared from every shadow around them, even from Kurama's, Tsunade's and Jiraya's own shadows standing next to them, making both Sannin jump in surprise and Kurama roll his eyes again while muttering 'showoff'

"How did you do that?!" Asked/shouted a shell-shocked Jiraya with a hand over his chest trying to get his heart rate back to normal level, and seeing a sea of blonde haired and scarf wearing boys.

"Told you that Eternano was easy to mold, so easy that I can tune it to a strange energy in the air, so I can pull clones from every shadow around me… cool huh?" Naruto said with a cocky grin to the now gaping Sannin

"Yo-you can use Senjutsu?"

"Sen-what?"

"He said he can tune his magic power to that thing you call senjutsu" Kurama answered for Naruto, holding himself from face pawing… surely Jiraya should know that he would be a toad statue by now if he used natural chakra the wrong way "He actually doesn't use it, but it helps him working as some kind of conductor, right Naruto?"

"Guess so, you were also the brains so I suppose that's right" Kurama sweatdropped "But it allows me to pull Eternano into every shadow around me, really useful if you ask me"

"We can discuss the how's later, but now tell me how many clones you've created" Tsunade said

"Hum… About a thousand I guess" he then turned to a nearby clone "What do you think?"

"Yeah, a thousand" the clone nodded

"Then five hundred go with Tsunade now" Said woman started walking to another training ground and the clones started to follow her, and then Jiraya did the cross finger hand seal and a single shadow clone appeared next to him in a poof of smoke "The rest of you go with him" and after some minutes only Naruto and Jiraya were left in the training ground.

"Sooooo, now what?"

"I'll teach you summoning"

"Summoning?"

"Yeah, look at this" he bit his thumb and some blood spread on his hand, then he slowly started doing the hand seals so Naruto could have a good look and learn them, and finally he slammed his hands on the ground _"Kuchiyoose no jutsu!" _kanji spread on the floor forming the summoning formula, and in a big _poof_ of smoke Jiraya appeared on top of a really, REALLY big toad "What have you summoned me for this time Jiraya!" the toad boomed

"W-wait Gamabunta, this is actually something important I need you for as Chief summon, remember Naruto?"

"The brat? He haven't summoned us for a long time, Gamakichi misses him greatly"

"Hey! Who are you calling a brat!" Naruto shouted from the ground, shock of the toad's size forgotten at being called brat

"What I was going to ask…" Jiraya cut Gamabunta to avoid an argument, and gained an irritated huff from the toad boss "is if Naruto can still summon toads, I'll explain the details later, but something might have happened to him during this 4 years, and even if his name is still on the contract he, maybe, won't be able to keep summoning toads"

Gamabunta looked at Naruto for a while, examining him with a thoughtful face; Naruto remained still and felt nervous under the gaze, he didn't knew why but he felt the need to pass this 'test', as if it was something really important to him, and so he waited the big toad's verdict.

"I can feel something… funny with his chakra, but besides that I can tell no difference at all, so I see no reason for him to stop summoning us" Naruto let out a breath he didn't knew he was holding "If that's all I'll go back to mount Myoboku and report Ma' and Pa' the brat's back, they'll surely will wish to hear your explanation later" And not saying anything else he disappeared in a big _poof_ of smoke, making Jiraya fell roughly to the ground making Naruto laugh his ass off.

"Well, you heard him gaki, summon a toad. You already saw the handseals, you need to bite and draw some blood over your hand while doing the handseals to make it work" Jiraya said while nursing his butt, trying to rescue what little dignity he had left after that last embarrassing… incident.

Naruto nodded and bit his finger, and with some blood did the handseals, then planted a hand on the ground and claimed "_Kuchiyoose!"_ then a big magical seal array appeared under him, shining and spinning slowly, really impressive and quite intimidating at first sight… but nothing happened after that.

"Nice lightshow, but you haven't summoned anything… I thought Gamakichi would appear"

"Gamakichi?" and after the name was called the seal array reacted, it stopped spinning and shone brightly for a second blinding Jiraya, but once the light died down he saw Naruto standing on top of an oblivious orange, human sized toad wearing a blue jacket

"Gee… that one was a weird trip, did you summoned me Ero-sennin?" Gamakichi asked not even noticing the stunned teenager on his back; a vein bulged on Jiraya's forehead

"No, it was him" he stated while pointing to Naruto

"Naruto! Hey bro, what's up? Where have you been all this time? You got all of us worried, even dad… not that he would ever admit it"

Naruto finally woke up from his shock "Emmm… you're Gamakichi then, right? Nice… to meet you I guess, name's Naruto Dragneel… man, this is awkward" Naruto said scratching his cheek with a finger

"Hey bro what's wrong? Cut the prank already, it's not funny, and you are Naruto _U-zu-ma-ki, _not Dragneel"

"Actually, it's Naruto Dragneel Uzumaki now, his situation is… special now, he's-"

"Memory loss" Naruto cut off Jiraya before he explained further, he had said that he would play along with this until the time to leave came, and he was planning on doing so "I've been living somewhere else until I came here by accident, people from the village recognized me and now they are trying to make me regain my memories, but I doubt I will, so I'm trying to make new ones" Well, that was not a total lie, they really believed he had amnesia, but it wasn't a total true… he hated lying but the situation called for it.

"And how did you lost your memories? Tell me so I can kick that guy's ass" Gamakichi said narrowing his eyes and punching his webbed hand on the ground, making Naruto loose his stability

"Easy there dude!" Naruto said jumping to the ground "And no, I don't know who or what caused the amnesia… now that I think about it, I've been a week and a half here and nobody has told me how I… _lost_ my memories, all I was told is that I disappeared during a mission"

Jiraya got nervous hearing this, how he would react if he was told that it was during a fight with his 'best friend' in a mission to retrieve said 'friend' because he went rouge seeking for power from a public village enemy? "Ehhh… I think you should ask that to Tsunade-hime, she is… better informed about that since I was out of the village at the time" Jiraya chuckled nervously under the examining gaze Naruto and Gamakichi were giving him

"I know you are hiding something Ero-jiji, and I won't let it-" He became silent on mid sentence and his eyebrows furrowed and he blinked many times, before he grinned like a kid that got the last candy in the bowl "Hey! I know how to do the Shunshin!" and then he proceeded to do an embarrassing victory dance; Jiraya sighed in relief and thanked his lucky star and any deity out there for the perfect timing and the combination of short attention spans and excess of energy… at least for this time

"Care to show gaki? It's not that I don't believe you but… well, I don't believe you" Naruto glared at the Sannin and punched a blazing fist through a tree, it tore through it easier than a Rasengan

Jiraya paled immediately

"N-now, don't get me w-wrong Naruto, I'm not doubting your skill, but even being a low ranked jutsu most ninjas only learn it when they reach chunnin, and even sometimes jounin level of skill, and even for them it takes months of training to master it" Jiraya lectured, somehow regaining his composure in the process

"But according to baa-chan only I can use Kage Bunshin the way I do, besides…" he grinned and crossed his arms "It's eaaaa…" the word started in front of the pervert, but ended behind him "…syyyy" Jiraya jumped back startled, taking Naruto to the ground along with him "Hey! Careful old pervert!" said pervert mumbled something about disrespectful brats before getting up.

"It's not fun if you make it look like the jutsu using those shadow clones of yours"

"That was not a shadow clone Ero-sennin" said a wide eyed Gamakichi making Jiraya's eye twitch in annoyance "That… that was an afterimage… what the hell have you been doing bro?" Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly sited cross legged in the ground while it was Jiraya's turn to look wide-eyed the boy in front of him

"Well, baa-chan explained me that it wasn't actually teleportation, but more like a hi-speed movement enhanced by your catra"

"It's chakra Naruto"

"Whatever… so she showed the clones the seals and let them try it while she started to chat with Kurama, and at first I only could run faster, but not make it look like a teleportation, but then Kurama finally decided to help me" he then chuckled evilly "Maybe because some clones decided to start detonating themselves… Hehehe" Jiraya shivered unconsciously "But he told me to try to, instead of focusing my magic power on myself, use it as some kind of hook to the place I want to go, and then let it just pull me"

Naruto remained silent for some seconds before he resumed his speech, but this time from a tree branch on the edge of the training ground, the Naruto sitting in the ground vanished a second later and Jiraya's jaw hit the floor while his eyes almost popped out of their sockets

"It took nearly 300 clones and many nasty landings to finally get it right, but once they got the hang of it things went smoother" again some seconds of silence and the speech continued from Gamakichi's head "But it was well damn worth it, thanks to that weird energy on the air I can mold the Eternano easily without the handseals, the afterimage was a cool side effect for short jumps" once again silence, and Jiraya immediately swung his head everywhere searching for the next appearing spot, and finally spotted a shiny spot in the ground not too far from him that looked like some kind of seal, and then Naruto appeared there smirking; he turned and saw the Naruto on Gamakichi's head already fading, and said toad was three shades clearer on the face, with a padded hand over his chest

"I'll go back now bro, it was nice and all to see you again, but you are starting to creep me out" and with that the toad was gone in a flash of light instead of the usual poof of smoke

"That's impressive and all" Jiraya said knowing that it was a major understatement, but it seemed like a bad idea to rub the boy's ego "But the time you take to use the jutsu is far too long, for rapid successions, I mean, if you could polish that and the timing between jumps this version of Shunshin could give you a great edge on battle" Damn, if the gaki perfected this unique variant of shunshin it could easily rival Minato's Hiraishin with that afterimage thing, maybe even become stronger and more dangerous… Whatever he was about to keep thinking was cut off by Naruto's chuckle, only to later see another 10 shiny spots on the ground around him "No way…"

"I was just. Breaking things. Down to you. A bit. Baa-chan and. Kurama almost. Had a heart attack. After seeing this. But it still takes a lot of magic power to do, luckily I have enough to pull that same trick a couple more times" During that time Naruto's voice seemed to come from every image of the blonde around Jiraya, and when the voice finally stopped moving the only signal that those were no clones was that when Jiraya pocked one of them his finger went through it as if there was nothing, all his demonstration took less than 20 seconds.

"N-now that was something else gaki, and hearing about what Tsunade-hime told me before you have put a total new standard to the basic academy jutsus, and now you have turned a low ranked travel jutsu to a level similar to the Hiraishin, if not higher I would dare to say"

"What's a hirshin?"

"Hiraishin, Naruto"

"Whatever"

"The _Hiraishin no jutsu _was you father's most… (Sigh) sorry, it was the Yondaime Hokage's most deadly jutsu combined with the Rasengan, it was a time-space ninjutsu that used seal tags attached to special kunai that allowed him to have total control of the battlefield allowing him to teleport wherever one of that kunai were placed, the yellow trail of light that appeared every time he used it earned him the title of 'Konoha's yellow flash'"

"Kunai is that metal thing that looks like a dagger right?" Jiraya only nodded, his sight was lost behind Naruto, like looking or remembering something only he knew with a small but warm smile on his face "You seem to be proud of that Yondaime guy, I'm sure he was someone really close to you… was he your son?"

"Kami forbid that! No gaki, Minato Namikaze was his student" Tsunade said entering the training ground along with Kurama, and when Naruto heard the name Minato something reacted inside him, it was a warm feeling that he only related to Igneel, Natsu, Happy and Kurama, but he dismissed it as empathy to Uzumaki once he remembered Jiraya slipped that Minato was Uzumaki's father "Good work with the shunshin by the way, you really blew the standards after that small addition you gave it"

"Hehe, thanks baa-chan" he said blushing a bit at the praise, and then got a curious glint on his eyes "Hey Baa-chan, the pervert let it slip that the Minato guy is Uzumaki's father… Why I haven't seen him so far? I mean maybe he is searching for his son out there, but he should also have returned during the time I was here right?"

Tsunade gave a sharp glare at Jiraya, who turned to a side with a sheepish look trying to escape her gaze, and then Tsunade turned to Naruto "He is dead, he died a long time ago protecting the village from a demon that attacked the same day his son was born… he sacrificed himself to save the whole village along with his wife, leaving our Naruto as an orphan" Naruto was shocked by this revelation, and didn't noticed the guilty flinch on Kurama's face, but Jiraya did noticed it.

"Want to hear about it gaki? Even if sad, it's a nice story of how they loved their son and village so much that they died protecting both" Naruto nodded absentmindedly and sat in the ground cross legged, Tsunade gave Jiraya a questioning look but decided to play along and also sit besides the pervert to see what he was trying to get from this

Jiraya started explaining what a Bijuu was, then what a Jinchuuriki was, and how Kushina Uzumaki, Naruto's mother, was the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki; then he started with the attack to the village, when a masked man somehow managed to take the Kyuubi out of Kushina's seal and gain control over it, how Minato Namikaze faced the masked man alone while the ninjas of the village fended Kyuubi off to avoid the destruction of the village and how he broke the control the masked man had over the fox and forcing him to retreat, to then return to the village and take the Kyuubi away from it, the details of what happened then were not known to him since he wasn't there and only learned about the other fight from what the Sandaime, his old teacher, told him, but in the end he performed a sealing that cost his and his wife's lives to put the Kyuubi inside their son in hopes of him becoming the hero of that night, and with confidence that he would become strong enough to harness the Bijuu's power.

Of course Tsunade knew all the details, Naruto told them to her personally along with the rest of his friends during the war after he mastered the use of the Kyuubi's chakra, but she wouldn't unveil that information now, first because it would blow her cover to Jiraya, the pervert was no idiot, even if he acted like one, and if she gave him even the faintest trail to follow, he would eventually uncover the whole story, but the other, and the strongest reason she didn't gave a deeper explanation from that night was because of the pained face of both Naruto and Kurama, one was shocked beyond belief with tears gathering on the corner of his eyes, while the other looked utterly ashamed and regret shone through that red slitted eyes that once held nothing but hate, it would only be worse for them to unveil the truth of that night.

"D-did he have his last wish granted? D-did Uzumaki was seen as the hero?" Naruto fearfully asked while hugging the small body of Kurama like a lifeline, the fox didn't mind being used like a stuffed animal for the moment, too deep on his own memories to care, regret clearly visible on his pained face, and deep inside Naruto already knew the answer to his questions, but he hoped that intuition was wrong, sadly it was Tsunade who shattered his hopes this time

_(Play song: Musique pour la tristesse de Xion – Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Original Soundtrack)_

"No" she simply answered with a sad sigh, Jiraya was too focused on the small fox on Naruto's arms to keep explaining, so she kept talking "The pain of the looses was too great for practically the whole village, and not having the fox to vent their frustration in they instead targeted Naruto, he grew up alone and hated by the whole village, and even if the Sandaime decreed a law that forbid the young from learning about him in hopes of him having a somewhat normal childhood, their fathers had the idea that Naruto was the fox, not the one who kept him at bay"

"He… he grew up like me…" Naruto practically whispered only to himself, but Tsunade heard it and frowned, wasn't he happy in that other world? "I sometimes have… flashes of my life from before Kurama found me on the forest, not complete memories but still… and always they are about people hating me… calling me names, _looking_ at me as some kind of monster… it's always painful to remember…" and then his expression softened a bit, a small smile came to his face and he hugged the small fox on his arms tighter "But I was fortunate to find Kurama, and then Natsu-nii and Igneel, and the whole guild… they made those painful memories seem like nothing and made me feel loved… they are my family"

Kurama only leaned his head over Naruto's chest and nuzzled there, a relieved smile on his muzzle but still some pangs of guilt flashing on his eyes, he knew Jiraya had deciphered his true identity by now, and that he clearly remembered, but he didn't cared, he had made Uzumaki's life's a living hell, but now he was making amends with Naruto trying to procure as much happiness as he could to his blonde kit.

A frown then appeared on Naruto's face "Uzumaki, unlike me, couldn't find a family, but you two, along with all the people I met when I arrived here seemed very fond of him… I can understand that the younger ones met him later, that he somehow managed to become their friend as he grew up, but the older ones looked like they could raise him, you, that pervert" he said pointing to Jiraya "the cyclops and many others there that I'm sure knew about his origins, but even then he grew up alone, being the son of a man that everybody looked up to, and also being the one keeping a disaster like that one from happening again… why?"

"We had to keep his origins hidden from many people… even from himself…" The expression on Naruto's face was like if someone told him that he would never return to his home, utter disbelieve "We needed to keep it a secret for his protection, Minato became the public enemy of more than one nation, and they would have been more than happy to kill his heir, it was easier to keep him safe as another orphan of the Kyuubi attack, that way he-"

"That's bull!"Naruto felt the anger rise within him, no one deserved to have his origins hidden from them, he didn't knew who his parents were and wondered if there was also another version of Minato and Kushina on Earthland, and if they were his parents… but when questions about why he was alone started to rise he dismissed the idea, he preferred to stick with Igneel and leave his true parentage aside, nobody knew about it and he didn't wished to find out, but in Uzumaki's case was something totally different, that small bit of information would have made his life far much better than what Tsunade was telling him, he was sure of that

"That Minato guy seemed to be important for you two, then why you didn't took care of his son?" Naruto kept on ranting and both Sannin had to look to a side in shame, it was their own selfish pity what condemned Naruto to that life of loneliness, in Jiraya's case he used his spy network as an excuse to go away from the child, his resemblance to Minato, someone he loved as his own son, was simply too much for him to bear, and in Tsunade's case her self-induced depression and small shell kept her away from Konoha, making her not care about her former home village and leave Naruto alone, none had the guts to answer him

"Back in the guild we went to war, TO WAR with another guild because they hurt a group of our family, and wished to take another away from us, we didn't even cared about our guild hall when it was destroyed because we were the ones who made the guild, not the building, and because we cared for each other, and you tell me that because of fear that Uzumaki could be targeted you made his life a living hell? That because you thought he could be killed in revenge you never stood for him, and left him alone to fend himself against the hate of his own home?"

"Please, understand that besides being the Yondaime's son he was also the container of the most powerful Bijuu of the nine! His potential to become a weapon for the village would have made him a living target for every other nation if his parentage was ever revealed!" Naruto's wide eyes made Tsunade realize she gave the wrong answer

"A weapon? All of this because _I _was your weapon?!" The discussion was so heated up between Tsunade and Naruto, and Jiraya and Kurama were still lost on their own regrets that not even Naruto noticed his own slip.

"Of course not! We all care for him for who he is!"

"THEN WHY!? THAT COULD HAVE BEEN ME!" he stood abruptly with Kurama still on his arms "That could have been us" he added on a low tone, more like talking to himself but Kurama still heard it and flinched as another pang of guilt hit him

"You…" Jiraya finally spoke, but his voice was tired and defeated, totally different from the cheerful and boastful he got used during his stance in Konoha "You wouldn't understand, this is not your world and you won't comprehend our reasons" Jiraya knew they wouldn't win this argument against Naruto, so he decided it would be better to just finish the conversation there

For some silent minutes Naruto's eyebrows frowned and he closed his eyelids in deep thought, releasing Kurama in the process, and when he opened his eyes flames of determination flared on his eyes, with such conviction that the sight reminded the Sannin of the old Naruto "I will find Uzumaki no matter what, that's a promise" the relieved smile that came to their faces was wiped instantly by his next statement "And then I will take him with me back to Earthland" despite the gloomy mode Kurama was in, he couldn't help but facepaw, only Naruto would come with such answer "There he will have a family, friends and he will finally be happy" and turning his back to the two gaping Sannin he started to walk away, Kurama shortly following him.

Some seconds later a muffled explosion was heard from another training ground and a rush of memories reached Jiraya, he stood there wide eyed for a second before he closed his eyes and a sad smile with a low chuckle came out of the pervert's mouth before he shook his head

"What happened Jiraya?" Tsunade asked in an unusual soft tone to his teammate

"The gaki did it again, his clones mastered the Rasengan and now he can form it with one hand, apart from being able to throw it … not even Minato managed to do that" and with that he stood up, turned and started to walk back to the village, deep in his own thoughts

Tsunade was about to also leave, but turned once again to the distancing image of Naruto's back and a bittersweet smile came to her face, he had all the right to leave them this time if it meant that he would finally be happy, and despite how much it hurt her hearth, when the time came she would be there, encouraging him to go and return to his new and better home… it was the least she could do being his godmother.

_(End Song)_


	5. Echoes of war - Shikamaru

Mini chapter: Echoes of war – Shikamaru

"Good night Kaa-san!" Shikamaru called from the stairs to his mother, glad that this night he would actually sleep… they had finally found Naruto, and with him secure in the village walls the matter of his memory was just a thing of time, he was sure they would find a way before the fox discovered they already had a sound plan, and were only stalling for time for Naruto to get his memories back.

He closed the door to his room muffling whatever his mother was screaming to him now and shook his head, a war seasoned jounin doing whatever his mother ordered him to do because he considered it too troublesome to not do so and because he was not a war seasoned Jounin now, he was still just a Chunnin that was pushed by his mother to try the exam to jounin

He let himself fall to his bed, and after once again remembering bout the war his mind wandered to years ahead, to a future they were fighting with all they have to avoid repeating, and to certain blonde haired genin, and how he betrayed his trust thanks to his own trust issues.

* * *

><p><em>(Flashback)<em>

"Shikamaru, I need your brain commanding the squad guarding Suna, with Gaara here in Konoha and most of the ninjas on the main battlegrounds the capitals are vulnerable to Zetsus attacks, specially Suna since without it's Shinobi to use the terrain advantage to protect it has the least Natural defense against enemy troops" Naruto asked him almost pleadingly, surely in behold of Gaara himself

"I know you have already talked about this with Baa-chan and you have permission to go to Kumo to watch over Kurenai until you are really needed on the fight, but please, I can be more calmed knowing that your brains are protecting Suna… please?"

"I'm sorry Naruto, but I have to go to watch over Kurenai myself, that's not up to discussion"

"I-I can send a Kage Bunshin to watch over her, Kumo is hard to reach and she'll be safer there, you know that… ju-just, please… do that for me?" Shikamaru sighed, it was hard for him to refuse his friend's petition, but this was something he needed to do by himself, so he put a hand over Naruto's shoulder and explained himself

"I'm really sorry, but I can't… It's not that I don't trust you…" Actually he trusted nobody but himself to do this, but he wouldn't say that loud "But I have to do this myself… I promised Asuma I would protect the king the day he died, he entrusted me his will of fire and it's my duty, only mine, to do so… I have to be the one watching over Kurenai" and with that he left Naruto on the street to gather with the rest of the team that was going to head to Kumo.

Two weeks later notice reached him that Suna was invaded, and every Shinobi sent there to protect the city died along with half of the civilian population thanks to a poor plan of evacuation formulated by the squad leader… between the dead were Iruka and Moegui along with many Shinobi he knew Naruto befriended during his incursions on the different battlefields, Shinobi Naruto had rescued of what seemed death situations with a smile and cheers for their hard work

The two months he spent in Kumo not even a spy was spotted, he wanted to cry

When he returned to Konoha he feared what would be Naruto's reaction, he heard that Gaara stepped down of the Kazekage mantle and Temari took the hat after him, and he asked to be sent to the front lines to support the other Shinobi on fight, seeing that he had failed as a leader… and Shikamaru knew it was his fault.

When he crossed paths with Konohamaru and Udon, gone was the usual energy and grin that defined him, he looked depressed and cast down along with his friend. He didn't even dared to greet him and it seemed that they didn't noticed it, or didn't even cared about it and passed by his side without even lifting their heads… and Shikamaru knew it was his fault.

When he could no longer avoid Naruto and had to meet with him, the blonde treated him as usual, as if nothing had ever happened, and as if the closest thing he had to a father figure besides Jiraya didn't died because of him, and it was driving him crazy, so when he confronted the blonde about it his cheerfulness was gone, and in a serious tone he said

"You had to do what your heart told you to do, I can understand that" but when he lifted his head to look into his eyes he saw it, the pain, the grief, the betrayal, the storming feelings about him… the hate… Then he turned and was back again on his cheerful self leading him to grab some ramen at Ichikaru's.

He was lying…

He blamed him…

He felt betrayed…

He hated him for it, but he cared for him as his friend…

He knew he could have been the difference during that invasion, but he refused to listen…

He failed to protect the king…

He had failed Asuma…

He had failed Naruto…

… It was all his fault.

_(Flashback end)_

* * *

><p>Shikamaru sighed and turned to a side, where a photo frame was hanging on the wall with the genin team 10<p>

"I won't fail you this time Asuma"

He turned to the window and saw the Hokage monument, lacking Sasuke's head there, and knowing that Naruto's head should have been there instead

"I won't fail you this time Naruto"

He stood up from his bed and jumped out the window, troubled thoughts he knew would not let him sleep this night, and headed towards the most peaceful place he knew, and was not surprised to find the other six travelers there, all with guilty frowns on their faces, all staring at the memorial stone, and his sight locked on the place where Iruka's and Moegui's names would be carved in a future he would not let happen

"It was all my fault…"

* * *

><p><strong>(AN): I struggled hard on how to present the war times without interfering with the usual easygoing stile of the fic, because of course it would be angsty, so at first I thought about a one shot, but I know later I would focus on it, another fic could born from it and I would stop posting for this one, sometimes I have the atention span of a goldfish :D, then I thougt "what the hell, I'll put it on the fic itself" but then I couldn't find where to put it, so after a lot of struggle I came with this, there will be 8 about each one of the travelers, maybe 9 if I include Kurama in the mix, and I will see when to put this up, they will be mini chapters like this one not much more than 1.5k words.**

**Next chapter maybe will take a bit longer to uploadbecause it will be larger than the ones I've posted so far (blame my brain for that) but I'll do as much as I can to have it up soon ok? hope you enjoy this, even if it's a bit sad, and don't forget to follow, favorite or review, 10 reviews so far, more than 2k hits on 4 chapters and almost 50 follows/favorites, all of this in one month thanks to you guys, I really apreciate that, so... see ya' later! :D**


	6. The bell test

**(A/N): Yes! I did it! somehow I managed to publish this one during the week! (yay!) and more and more people reads this... already over3k hits, wow, never thought it would reach that number, not much was said about that mini-chapter I posted during the week, so I dunno if it was good, bad should I keep 'echoes of war' or not... in the end that's up to you and your reviews so I really need them to improve this fic, so it can fit your likes; so here it is, the famous (or infamous) bell test... well not exactly _the_ bell test, but... well, you'll get the idea, one of the Fairy Tail characters makes the first appereance here, and that only means I can finally start with the fun :D**

**In respect of the last reviews... thanks guys, thanks a lot; those words make me feel I'm doing a great job so far, and even if I'm not sure the lack of critics is something good or bad, I really hope it's something good; I'm doing my best to keep you content with this sooo thanks to that guest reviewer, whoever you are, sliteyes, butterflypuss your help, even if small, is really apreciated, Sjamie 1398 and ducat of the valley, thanks to guys like you I feel all this is worth the struggle**

**"I must say that... what was I going to say? Oh, here are different points of view about the three days isolation of Naruto that Segaku menssions at the beguining, don't confuse one with another because each one is taken from a different point of view, so you are warned to avoid any brainwrecking paradoz between one and the other says"**

**Well, that's really all I had on mind for this one sooo here we go, Review, like and follow if you like my work, play the songs I suffered so much to find and make fit in the chapters (Yeah, if more appear will aslo be, mostly, from Kingdom Hearts, I really, REALLY like that game and it's soundtrack) and... ON WITH THE STORY! :D**

**Disclaimer: Ok, ok, you discovered me, I do own Naruto and Fairy Tail, happy?... nah just kidding, how on earth would I own that?... Or do I?**

* * *

><p>Chapter 5: The bell test<p>

Two weeks had passed since Naruto arrived into this new world, and for the past few days things didn't went the way he would have liked them to be, counting today it would be three days that he had avoided everyone else, except Kurama of course, after his… little discussion with Tsunade-baachan and Ero-jiji, and he still didn't felt like facing anyone from the village thanks to that words Jiraya said that still sounded on his head… 'You wouldn't understand, this is not your world and you won't comprehend our reasons'

He was not angry at them, totally the opposite, he totally agreed with him and that was the reason he was avoiding contact with anyone, he was not from this world.

During the time he had spent here he started to meet the people that were important to Uzumaki, and lately he started to feel scared that he was getting too comfortable around them, to the point of getting really exited of being put into a team and being entered into the village's ninja force.

He not even once lost focus of his goal, he would return to Earthland no matter what, but he was starting to not mind the time it would take… he looked down on one of his arms and saw the guild mark there, and that sight made him feel better, made him remember where he belonged and who were waiting for him back at home.

Sighing he decided to lay on the soft grass of the clearing he was training in, and crossed his arms behind his head to comfortably watch the clouds pass on the sky, the sun was starting to hide in the horizon when Kurama finally found him, and sighing the fox floated next to him

_(Play song: Lazy afternoons – Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Original Soundtrack)_

"It's funny, you know" said the fox next to Naruto sitting on his hunches, surprising him a bit by breaking the silence "It seems there are a lot of worlds out there, but in the few we have been to the sky looks exactly the same, from the sun and the moon down to the tiniest star… many worlds, but only one sky huh?" Naruto turned his head to his friend and raised an eyebrow, Kurama chuckled lightly and also turned to him, an affectionate look on his face

"I know exactly what is going on inside that thick head of yours Naruto, you still look like that small kit I found all those years ago in the forest to me, and sometimes you are quite easy to read" Naruto blushed a bit and turned his face up to the sky again while muttering that 'he was no longer a baby'… and pouting.

"Tell me, what's your name?" Naruto rose an eyebrow, giving Kurama a side glance, not totally turning to face him, but shrugged and answered anyway

"Naruto Dragneel" Kurama nodded and pointed to his arm with his muzzle

"And what does Fairy Tail means to you?" At this Naruto uncrossed his arms and sat cross-legged giving him a confused look, but seeing the expectant look on Kurama's eyes he guessed he would need to answer to know what was going inside Kurama's head

"They are my friends, my family… my nakama, and I would do anything to keep them safe" Naruto answered truthfully, and noticing the burning determination on his eyes while he answered Kurama felt satisfied, so he smirked and floated over his head to rest on his mop of hair

"Then what's the problem with you befriending the people here? You had just showed me that you know very well where your loyalties are, and I told you to be careful around them, not to isolate until we leave"

"But there will come the time to leave, and I really meant to take Uzumaki with us back to Earthland… they will hate me for that" the thought of the people here hating him sent a pang of pain through his heart, but he wouldn't back up on the promise he had already done… Kurama sensed his troubled thoughts, and after getting a bit more comfortable on Naruto's head he spoke

"You will not gain their hate if he agrees to leave with us, if we find him that is"

"_When_ we find him, Kurama"

"Fine, fine, w_hen_ we find him, because if they truly are his friends, then they'll understand him and won't oppose to his decision"

Naruto thought about that for a moment, and after releasing a sigh that seemed to take away his worries he spoke again, this time a more happy tone on his voice "I miss the people from the guild" Kurama ruffled his hair with a tiny paw while smiling, thanking that his loyalty for his friends remained intact even after his memory loss

"Yeah, me too… It's just not the same without all the noise and fights huh?"

"Yeah, but once we return I'm soooo gonna beat Erza and Natsu-nii on a fight"

"Natsu? Hmmm… maybe, but Erza? You'll be luckier to separate Kana from her booze"

Naruto jumped to his feet and stuck a dramatic pose, with one arm pointed to the sky with the Fairy Tail signal, Kurama mentally patted himself on the back, still on Naruto's head, for managing to get him back to his happy and carefree self "Not now that I have my ultra secret ninja/mage collaboration/combination ultimate technique!" one of those goofy smiles that made Natsu be Natsu perfectly emulated on his face, and only then Kurama bothered to actually take a look to the 'clearing' they were in that whole time

His eyes jumped out of their sockets

"Do I want to know what caused… this?"

"Dunno, It's up to you… but it's damn awesome don't you think? And it's not even complete!"

Kurama shook his head and got off Naruto's head, his job done, and started to float on the general direction of the village "Let's just head back to the apartment ok? I'm hungry and today you have to cook" and noticing the extending grin on Naruto's face he felt he needed to add "And no, you can't prepare ramen tonight, after three days of not eating anything else than that I think I have Miso instead of blood by now" Yup, Naruto got back his ramen addiction, much to Teuchi and Ayame's delight

"But I can-"

"Nope"

"And if I add-"

"Not gonna change my opinion"

Naruto's shoulders and head slumped in defeat, but he nodded nonetheless and started to drag his feet back to the village behind Kurama. The fox had a triumphant smirk on his muzzle and started to hum a catchy melody that Naruto didn't last much before emulating; that day they had grilled fish for dinner and Kurama let him eat one of his fireballs as dessert.

_(End song)_

Kakashi had been bored out of his mind for the last three days, he really should have seen this coming when he decided to 'Further strength the basics of tree climbing', as he told Tsunade when she called for him after the third day of punishment because of course that Naruto had already spilled the beans, so right now he was practically crying of joy while waiting outside Tsunade's office, this would be his only chance to escape this hell.

He had been ordered to watch over Naruto during these days of isolation, specially his training sessions… without Icha-Icha! He was not worried about his need to be alone, he himself had felt that same need before, so he could have just sent a Kage bunshin to look over him and ignore the order, but Tsunade had been smart enough to order an ANBU to watch over him and he couldn't shrug him off, at least not until now when he left him alone maybe escaping for his life, or maybe to inform Tsunade about Naruto's last display; it was… impressive, to say the least, easily on the Rasenshuriken's level, but he had said it was incomplete? He indeed is the most unpredictable knuckleheaded nin… mage (sigh) he needed to get used to that, for now at least.

"Tsunade-sama will receive you now Kakashi-san" Shizune politely said, coming out of the Hokage's office, he nodded and stepped inside cautiously, this could be his only chance to escape from his hellish punishment and he didn't wished to screw it.

"Report Kakashi" She said not even lifting her head from the current paper in front of her

"Well, I'm sure the ANBU tailing me has already debriefed you about today's… 'Training session' right?" Tsunade lifted her head enough to direct him a glare that clearly said 'I'm not in the mood'; Kakashi gulped and immediately elaborated "But of course more details are always needed right?" he said with a nervous eye smile and both hands in front of him in a placating way, Tsunade kept her glare some more seconds before sighing, rubbing her eyes with her hands and sitting straight on her seat, Kakashi let out a breath he didn't knew he was holding

"This is a dangerous situation Kakashi, the one we are playing with Naruto"

"I'm sorry, but I can't see your point you Tsunade" Every time they spoke about Naruto and the past/future all titles were gone and the 7 time-travelers treated each other as equals, it was a common agreement after all they went through as comrades during the war.

"We treat him just as we used to, and I don't mean in terms of interactions, what I mean is that even after the few displays of genius he has showed with many of the most basic jutsus we still treat him as if he only had Kage Bunshin and Rasengan with all it's variants on his Jutsu repertoire, but he has clearly far surpassed that, and we don't know the extent of said improvement… that Dragon Slayer magic for example… that unique set of skills alone is clearly something powerful, and if what the ANBU reported is not an exaggeration, then the Rasengan…"

"It's not an exaggeration whatever he reported, that I can assure… with what I saw it's nearly impossible to exaggerate, and he said it wasn't even complete" Tsunade paled hearing that "But I can't understand what is troubling you, we know he is a loyal Konoha nin, so he would never use _that _to harm us"

"That's what I was talking about Kakashi; we are supposing he is still loyal to Konoha just because physically he _is_ Naruto Uzumaki, when far many times he has made clear that mentally he _is _Naruto Dragneel… all the proof I need is his first meeting with the other five… once everyone left, Sakura stayed to report personally about Lee, and she told me that Lee's sternum and ribs were dangerously cracked after that punch, and if not for his harsh training to increase his resilience to strong hits and his increased bone density developed with time those could have been reduced to splinters _inside_ his chest"

Kakashi's eye widened after hearing that, if that happened to Lee he didn't wished to think about what could have happened if one of those punches managed to land in Sasuke… "B-but that's why we are trying to make him remember Tsunade, then we would not fear something like that happening and we would also gain a really powerful asset against Madara, if Obito somehow manages to use Edo Tensei on him again"

"Once again you are supposing things Kakashi; we know how hard he was pushed to the edge those last weeks, he endured blow after blow to his heart until he snapped and abandoned us on a suicidal task… I still don't know how his remaining friends convinced him to stay, and only when we found that other use of the Hiraishin seal array he… somewhat returned to his normal self… (sigh) look, I know we all want to tell how sorry we are and how much we wish to make amends for what we did, but if _he_ snapped, I'm afraid of what can happen if the wrong memories resurface first, we don't know how _this _Naruto would react, once again that first meeting is all the proof I need to prove my point" Damn, she was starting to sound like Danzo, but the only way she found to help Naruto leave back to Earthland was making him look like a threat to the others… she hated doing this to his little brother, but she had already made her mind up that she would do all in her power to help Naruto return to his new home.

"Then what do you suggest?" Kakashi asked in a cold tone

"That we put the plan we made to send him back to that other world in action as soon as possible, that way we could even ruin Obito's plan of gathering the nine Bijuus neglecting him the Kyuubi's chakra"

"You know very well that there are many other ways he can find to get the Kyuubi's chakra, and that he doesn't need the whole Bijuu in order to resurrect the Juubi… what are you planning Tsunade?"

"Watch your tone Hatake" Tsunade barked on a commanding tone, shaking all confidence from Kakashi and making him lower his head "don't speak to me like you would do to a traitor, you know very well I only wish the best for Konoha and Naruto, but after that last report I can't help but wonder… am I wrong Kakashi? You tell me, would Naruto forgive himself if once he recovers his memory finds that he injured or, kami forbid, killed one of his friends in a fit of rage?"

Now Kakashi thought about that… in some aspects she was right, they were neglecting the mind aspect of Naruto just because his body was here; but there was also the issue that if they agreed with this plan, they would surely never see him again… he knew in the end he would have to do what's best for the village, but… this four years he had blamed himself, as surely the other six had done to themselves, for Naruto's disappearance, he felt that he had failed Minato-sensei, one more time… there HAD to be another option…

"I think I have an idea that could take care of the time bomb problem and would also assure Naruto's loyalty to the village once more"

Tsunade had to suppress a sigh and the irritated tone from her voice; of course it would not be _that_ easy, and she still needed to have the others trust, otherwise she could no longer help Naruto from _inside_ "Speak, I'm all ears"

"We can order what memories resurface first in a way, if my theory is right, by replicating or revisiting the situations or places that generated them in the first place, and I think I have the perfect situation to test that theory"

"Which is…?"

Kakashi reached his kunai pouch and took out two bells, and making them sound he answered eye smiling "What better memory than the one when he became a ninja?"

Naruto had found a nice nightcap while searching what to wear to sleep in Uzumaki's wardrobe, his clothes were dirty from training and even he knew that clothes needed to be washed… sometimes, and like he lost his backpack when he arrived to this world he had to look for clothes to wear during the night.

Even if the nightcap was nice and all he still needed something _else_ to wear while his clothes dried on the roof, he would not sleep only on his underwear, and while searching on the drawers he found many sets of what he guessed was Uzumaki's everyday clothes: black short sleeved t-shirts, orange pants and orange jacket with blue cloth on the shoulders and white high collar; he took out one of the orange jackets and a feeling of nostalgia invaded him, so he tried to put it on, sadly he was too big to fit on it, so no wishing to ruin it he reluctantly stored it again and decided to try on the pants, and thankfully those weren't too small, and fitted him like shorts… not what he expected but still better than nothing.

Sometime after that he entered the bed, well, more like just sprawled there wearing the hippo nightcap on his head and the orange pants-shorts, nothing else fitted him and he didn't wished to ruin Uzumaki's clothes, besides it would only be one night, then he would get some money from Baa-chan and go get more sets of his current outfit done, along with something to sleep with.

He was starting to drift into delightful sleep when his sharp ears caught the sound of soft knocks on his door, Naruto groaned and rolled on his bed, covering his head with his pillow and trying to ignore it, but then that someone knocked again, harder this time, and he heard the voice of the Teme calling for him "Open the door dobe, we are here to deliver a message from Hokage-sama" Of course they had to look for him when he was about to fell asleep.

Grudgingly he stood up and stumbled towards the door, mentally glaring at the still asleep Kurama and wondering why he had to have light dream, and once he opened the door he found Sakura, the Teme and the Scarecrow out there waiting for him, Sakura got a blush, the Teme had an eyebrow risen and the Cyclops was eye smiling, surely enjoying the small revenge of waking him up for whatever punishment Baa-chan gave him "Dirty clothes. No extra sets. Clothes here too small. Only this fit. What. Do. You. Want"

"Tsunade-shishou said that you are ready to be put in active duty as a ninja, doing missions and earning money by yourself so Kakashi-sensei will take us a test in group to see if you are worthy of having a Hitae-ate" Sakura said tapping her own Hitae-ate at the end

"We'll be meeting on training ground 7 at 7 a.m. sharp, so don't be late dobe, and also bring whatever you think you can use in a fight, like kunai or shuriken" Sasuke drawled on his apathetic tone, clearly not affected by the glare Naruto was giving him… maybe because instead of a glare it looked more like he was about to pass out

"Oh, also try to not eat breakfast because you'll probably throw it up" Kakashi added as an afterthought while eye smiling before shunshining away leaving the other three there alone; Sakura started to alternate between looking the floor and stealing glances to Naruto, who looked royally pissed off… and sleepy.

"Fine, tomorrow test, 7a.m., training ground 7, not be late, don't eat breakfast, bring tools, please close the door" and then he stood there in silence, but a couple of seconds later they could hear snores coming from inside the apartment and the Naruto in front of them started to vanish in thin air.

Sasuke smirked and shook his head, and dragged the wide eyed Sakura after closing the dobe's apartment door "Let's go, we need the sleep, and I also have the feeling that tomorrow it's going to be an… interesting day, to say the least" Oh, had he knew, interesting was a mayor understatement for what they would go through the next day hehehe… HAHAHAHAHAHAHA _(Keeps laughing maniacally until scene changes)_

Naruto was not happy today, his tummy grumbled demanding food, which he didn't had; his eyelids closed every now and then for lack of sleep, which he didn't got for waking up early; and finally, he was plotting ways in how getting back team 7 for being late because he was totally bored out of his mind.

He had wrestled his way out of his bed, fighting against his sheets asking him to stay more time, and took a fast cold shower to somewhat help himself wake up, and even had to run to the training ground when he found out that he was going to be late; that small chat he had with Kurama last night did wonders with his doubts, and now, despite his sleepiness, he was ready and eager to prove himself to Baa-chan and the other guys… but that enthusiasm wore off around the first hour of waiting.

"Yo!" Kakashi greeted as he usually did, eye smile included, appearing on the training ground in a poof of smoke along with Sasuke and Sakura, only to hastily scramble to avoid a flaming punch directed to the spot they were standing seconds ago. Once the fist touched the ground dust and debris flew everywhere, not unlike what used to happen when the situation repeated with Sakura, or even Tsunade's chakra enhanced punches, and when the dust finally settled Naruto was standing on the bottom of a medium sized crater on the ground, both hands turned into flaming fists, one behind him and other on his face's level, with a vein bulging on his forehead and an eye twitching uncontrollably, yup, he was pissed off… even his head became bigger once he started his rant.

"WHAT THE HELL CYCLOPS! YOU'RE LATE!" and then he turned to the other two, pointing an accusing finger to both of their wide-eyed and gaping faces "YOU TOO! AND YOU WERE THE ONE TO TELL ME ABOUT BEING ON TIME!" and while Sakura had to, for the first time on her life, be on the ending side of a lecture about being late, given by Naruto of all people (she guessed it would have been worse if, for example, it was Kakashi who did it) Sasuke spaced out and frowned when the memories of that blonde teammate that somehow, after a practically life-long chase after him, made him realize the true reason and extent of Itachi's love and loyalty to Konoha and him, and how thanks to Obito and Madara he practically pissed over his ideals and wishes for his future, and how thanks to him, to that idiotic blonde teammate, he now had a chance to have his Aniki back with him.

"HEY TEME! ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?!" Naruto's furious roar woke him from his memories, and made him shook his head in amusement at the familiar scene of the pissed off blonde, and an image of the blonde orange loving genin Naruto overlapped the teenager, exactly with the same stance and the same funny annoyed expression on his face that he remembered, and that made his eyes sting uncomfortably, forcing him to rub off the annoying drops of fluid that threatened to come out of them, surely caused by something that was floating in the air and managed to enter inside his eyes… he, crying for the dobe? Sure, next thing he would be running on his hands around the village while wearing a green spandex suit and screaming about the power of youth…

On a distant road near the border with the country of wind, Maito Gai stopped dead on his tracks and frowned, forcing his squad to also halt on their advance and turn towards him, Rock Lee neared his sensei and asked in a low voice "So you also felt it?"

"Yes, there is a disturbance in the Youth…. We must be alert" and then he reverted on his 'Youthful' self and challenged his squad to a race towards Suna, he didn't waited for them to answer before darting ahead with Lee behind him, Neji and Tenten only sighed and hoped that their sensei would wait for them on the border

"Welcome back to team 7, dobe" He said with a small smirk which lacked the usual arrogance of the Uchiha, and showed something that Kakashi could confuse with warmth if he didn't knew Sasuke better; and that small sentence made Naruto stop his rant, cool down and stare Sasuke with wide and confused eyes, something deep inside him told him to run to him, hug the bastard and then tease him about it, but he stomped the feeling the next second and opted for glaring him, pout childishly, cross his arms over his chest and say in an indignant tone "Shut up Teme, you still were late" a soft chuckle escaped Sasuke's lips, but he didn't said anything else

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the interaction, but seeing that they were finished he cleared his throat to get the attention of the skulking blonde, the amused Uchiha and the warmly smiling pink haired girl "Well, seeing that our new teammate… damaged, unconsciously I'm sure, this training ground we'll have to move to a clearing said new teammate also, unconsciously I'm sure, gave us" Naruto looked sheepish at the first part, but the second one let him with a confused frown, Sakura rolled her eyes

"He means the place where we found you" still confusion, Sakura groaned "The forest fire? Remember?" now recognition shone on his eyes while he made an 'Oh!' motion with his mouth, only to be replaced with an embarrassed expression the next moment, Kakashi felt the need to ease him

"Don't worry, we can actually made good use of that spot as training ground for dangerous jutsus out of the village; It's big and far enough to avoid any damage to the village" Naruto let out a relieved breath "We'll use it because every other training ground is occupied right now and this one… well…" Naruto looked to a side and mumbled an apology

"Can we leave now? We are loosing time and I could be training right now" Sasuke said, back in his arrogant self, making Sakura giggle and Naruto huff in annoyance looking ready to jump over Sasuke and punch him straight to Iwa, he was still as hotheaded as always, but now clearly more dangerous, easily on Sakura's, if not in Tsunade's level.

"Well, we better hurry up then" He said on his usual lazy tone cutting Naruto in whatever he was about to yell at Sasuke and vanishing in a small swirl of leaves, Sasuke and Sakura rolled their eyes and muttered at the same time "Show-off" and started to run towards the village walls to get to that clearing, not noticing Naruto's wide grin before he vanished with a small sparkle of light.

Kakashi took out his favorite book while waiting for his team to arrive, but before he opened it a shiny spot on the ground caught his eye, and before he could take even a step towards it Naruto appeared there grinning "Yo, scarecrow!" Kakashi took a deep breath to bring his heart rate back to normal levels and made his widened eye return to its usual bored look (mentally thanking his reflexes for hiding his small orange book from the blonde's sight), but that small moment of surprise was enough to make Naruto's day

"So, that's the famed Shunshin variant you developed I heard Tsunade-sama speak about so much?" Naruto's grin widened and his chest puffed with pride at the praise "But I'm curious as to why you didn't kept training with them, or anyone else, you just suddenly disappeared this last three days and nobody would see you the whole day, the only ones who rarely saw you were Teuchi-san or Ayame, and even them only caught glances of you by the door when they delivered you ramen, just enough for you to pay them and pick the package, not a single word… why Naruto?" The blonde's eyes lost their spark and his face took a sad appearance, but a small smile came to his mouth

"I had to clear my head, and think about… things…" Kakashi knew what was troubling him, he was afraid of forgetting that place he said he was before, and so he distanced himself in an attempt to regain focus on his goal to return to that other world… he would have used that chance to plant an illusion on Naruto to make him stay, but Tsunade ordered him just to watch him, and there was also the matter of the fox and his previous warning, it was better to have a slightly confused Naruto than no Naruto at all, and sensing Sakura's and Sasuke's chakra signatures coming closer each second, so he decided against asking more and go on with the test.

"Well, it seems that my other two cute little students will arrive soon"

"Huh? How do you know that?" Kakashi just eye smiled a pointed behind Naruto, he turned and saw that from that spot jumped Sakura and Sasuke, Naruto just turned again and narrowed his eyes to Kakashi, like trying to find something there, but then just shrugged and asked "Then what's this test about? A race? Fights? Please tell me it's not a written test… I suck at those…" Sasuke snorted behind him and Naruto turned to glare him, and opened his mouth to say something, but Kakashi stopped him bay making two bells sound on his hand

"This is a simple test, all you have to do is take one of this bells from me…" and so he explained the mechanics of the bell test, and while Naruto listened intently the instructions, Sakura and Sasuke had smirks on their faces, the scene was so familiar, but somehow so alien at the same time that they couldn't hide their amusement at the situation "And remember, if you pretend to have even a chance at taking a bell from me, better come with the intent to kill" that got an unexpected reaction from Naruto

"W-what!? Kill?" he stepped backwards scared at the idea, kill? Was the scarecrow being serious? True, he had stated before that he would kill whoever threatened his friends, but those were empty words, he knew he would never bring himself to do such thing, the guild's law prohibited such thing, and also there was the magic council's decreed that anyone who used magic to kill another person would we labeled as a dark mage and be chased down by the rune knights and any legal guild, so killing was on top of Naruto's never-to-do list.

Kakashi frowned at Naruto's reaction, he expected an exited and eager to fight blonde, not a confused and scared one, until Kyuubi's words flashed inside his head "… no need to kill nor fear for your life…" Kakashi mentally slapped himself and hurriedly corrected his mistake "Now, don't get me wrong Naruto, I don't really meant to actually try to kill each other, that's just a way to say that I expect you to don't hold up against me, because I won't do so" Sakura and Sasuke, being behind naruto didn't saw his face expression so they didn't understood why Kakashi elaborated on that, and sending him a questioning look they got a 'Don't say a thing' look as answer.

Naruto let out a relieved breath and gave Kakashi an annoyed look "Don't say crap like that again, ever, even if it's just a joke… it's not funny" He then crossed his arms and Kakashi could say he heard 'stupid Kakashi-sensei' between mumbles, but not being sure about it dismissed it and gave the group the last instruction.

"You have until the clock's alarm to get the bells, and the test starts on my mark, so… ready? Go!" Sasuke and Sakura jumped to nearby trees to hide as Kakashi instructed them early that morning, so he could face naruto one on one and measure his new strength because, even if they truly preferred to deny it, they had to admit that Tsunade's worries were not hard to believe, especially since Sasuke and Lee experienced how dangerously Naruto could act if pressed, better be safe than sorry, so they silently watched how this would develop.

Naruto stood in front of Kakashi, arms still crossed over his chest and a confused frown on his face for about a minute after Kakashi gave the order to begin, and said Jounin stared him back, hand itching to take out his small orange book, until the blonde finally opened his mouth to speak "Sooo, I have to fight against you to get one of those belts, along with Sakura and the Teme, right?"

"Yup"

"And I'm allowed to harm you always it's nothing serious… right?" a strange glint on his azure eyes made Kakashi gulp unconsciously

"Ehhh… yeah?" Now Kakashi questioned his rational thinking, because right now measuring Naruto's strength by a one on one fight seemed like a really baaaaad idea, if Naruto's shit-eating grin was any indicator, and even more after he rose a fist and it instantly lit up on fire

"Then fight me!" he demanded, and it would have looked really cool with his scarf waving with a breeze that passed that moment, if not for his stomach, which decided to grumble loudly at that moment; Naruto held his posture for some more seconds, clearly forcing his confident grin now, but his stomach growled again and then he let his head, shoulders and arms slump in defeat before whining "Man, I'm hungry…"

Kakashi chuckled and shook his head, only to immediately after straight his relaxed posture and put a hand over the Hitae-ate covering his other eye, ready to lift it "I'm going to fight against you Naruto, and I expect that something as simple as hunger won't stop you" Naruto perked up at this and his confident smirk returned full force, so punching one fist onto his palm he ignited both

"You bet that Cyclops, now I'm all fired up dattebayo!" Kakashi's eye widened a bit at the appearance of that old verbal tick, but Naruto didn't paid attention to it, so he supposed that it was his subconscious reacting at the situation and directed him a last nod and eye smile before lifting his hitae-ate and opening his Sharingan eye; at that moment Naruto's confidence faltered for a second at the intimidating sight of the slowly swirling tomoes, something about that eye made him feel uneasy, but he immediately shook off that feeling and grinned even wider, and at an unheard signal Naruto jumped towards the Jounin, who took a defensive stance and steeled himself for the clash.

The first exchange of hits and kicks was a whole new experience for Kakashi, if Naruto's fighting style before was unpredictable enough to even fool his Sharingan eye sometimes, now it rendered said eye useless; his hits and kicks were firm and strong, specially with those flames he could turn on and off at will even on his feet, but it was at the same time like he would just let his body move by itself, no clear pattern discernible… heck no pattern at all, it was like fighting against a sober version of Lee's drunken fist.

He evaded another punch just in nick of time to make him loose his balance, and so he did, but instead of fighting against the fall Naruto let his body move forwards to the ground, and placing the hand which he was going to use in the punch on the ground, he held his body upside down with it, and opening his legs to the sides he ignited both feet and whirled on his place emulating a windmill, and then he impulse himself forwards with his hand, feet now posed as a double kick towards Kakashi forcing him to block with both arms crossed, enhanced with chakra to avoid any heavy damage (his respect for Lee greatly increased, he had a hard time blocking those punches, so him enduring one of those punches aimed to really harm…) and after that Kakashi had to jump backwards to avoid another punch, Naruto this time didn't followed and Kakashi used the chance to catch his breath, that last exchange didn't lasted more than a couple of seconds and naruto executed it all in one swift motion, not ever stopping a moment to consider his next movement

Naruto stood from his semi-crouched stance and smirked, placing both hands behind his head "You're not that bad Cyclops, not many can keep up with me and Natsu-nii on a fist-only fight, even Erza has some trouble with it"

Kakashi also stood straight, slightly panting, and gave him an eye smile "Ninja arts lesson number one: Taijutsu, I must say that you have quite an interesting fighting style ther Naruto, and even if I don't know who this Erza you are talking about it, I can understand what you mean… your movements are really unpredictable, it's like if you don't even think to fight"

"I don't" Naruto happily chirped, making the other three there sweatdrop, he even heard someone mutter 'baka' somewhere behind him, but he didn't minded it, he was happy someone acknowledged his (and his brother's) fighting style, so he explained further "Once we fought against another Dragon Slayer that had a nasty skill that allowed him to hear even our thoughts during the fight, and even if at that time I managed to defeat him with a lot of noise, Natsu-nii and I decided to train in a style to counter that, and any similar kind of ability, it was really a pain to even _think_ in something to defeat him, so we learned to fight entirely on reflex, not really thinking on what to do next"

Kakashi rose an eyebrow at that, even if the notion of 'fighting without thinking' sounded like a stupid idea, what Naruto really meant with that, even if he didn't knew it, was that him and 'Natsu' took the concept of 'thinking on your feet' to an entirely new level; indeed he basically fought on reflex, but in what he could see during their previous fight was that, unlike with simple reflexes, his body _shifted_ his style according to every hit, block and dodge it did, surely thanks to continuous spars against different fighting styles and an insane amount of time spent training, it was as if his body had a mind of its own that was capable of sorting through integrated memories on an instant and come with satisfactory outcomes for many situations, a really impressive feat, sadly it's downside, at least he thought so, was that it could be easily overwhelmed by greater speed or a large number of opponents; but still he would dare to say he would give even Gai a run for his money, at least for some time.

"I wished to test you on genjutsu, but after our previous warm-up" Naruto snorted at that "I'm really curious as to how that unique style matches with your… unique set of skills" and getting on a ready stance he prepared for what could be a really… interesting fight

Naruto unfolded his arms and asked tentatively; practically giddy at the idea of finally letting go in a fight "You want me to use magic? Nobody has asked for that so far, and when I mention it they get a bit… nervous, dunno why, but… are you sure?" Kakashi gave him an eye smile and nodded, Naruto got positively exited and closed his eyes; when he opened them again they were slitted, signaling now his Dragon Slayer magic was active and set his fists on fire, this time the flames burned stronger "Ohhh, now it's on"

Kakashi somersaulted over him just as he heard him call "_Karyuu no Kazigume!"_ and fire exploded from under his feet, propelling him towards him at breakneck speed, ready to punch, Kakashi thanked the small warning he received from his Sharingan, even if he almost missed it

Noticing the scarecrow had avoided his attack Naruto front flipped and landed in a crouch, and not wasting time he used the generated momentum to do a high jump, and spotting Kakashi on the ground he smirked and opened his arms in wings motion, and tendrils of fire appeared under them _"Karyuu no Yokugeki!"_ he rolled on the air and used the momentum generated to throw his arms forward, the wing-like fire extensions following the motion, directed towards Kakashi.

Even with his back turned to Naruto he felt the attack directed to him, so he flashed through handseals as he turned, and not sparing a glance to the nearing attack he slammed his palm on the ground "_Doton: Doryuheki!"_ and rocks shot up from the ground and formed a thick wall in front of him, just in time to intercept the fire tendrils aimed to hit him, but causing an explosion on impact that forced Kakashi to abandon the protection of the wall and jump backwards, and now panting a bit more heavily he finally saw the power that was put on that last attack, the rock wall that could hold back some of the strongest jutsus during the war and still stand proud was now reduced to rubble, and the heat was so strong that some rocks were even halfway melted… and Naruto stood on the other side grinning and not even winded, this made him see why Tsunade was so worried and thank that he was on their side.

"What's wrong scarecrow? Too old to keep up?" Naruto taunted with a cocky grin, Kakashi stood from his crouched position and closed his Sharingan eye, and his normal one regained its bored look

"Maa, don't let it get over your head, you had the surprise factor on your side, that's all" and then he flashed through handseals again _"Suiton: Teppodama!" _and a water bullet was shot from his mouth at high speed

Naruto saw the handseals, but he was too far t reach him before he finished, so instead he inhaled deeply, and puffing his cheeks he breathed _"Karyuu no Hooko"_ and a twister of flames came out, impacting with the water bullet, both attacks canceling each other, mainly because the dragon's breath was not at full strength thanks to that fast casting, but Kakashi didn't knew that, so noticing that he could no longer keep up the defense, Naruto would eventually overwhelm him, and he couldn't bring himself to go full against his sensei's son, even if he wished to, so he decided he had enough information about him, simply overpowered, and opted for going on with the test, there was just an hour and a half left and he still wished to see their teamwork so he held a single handseal and used the moisture in the air generated by the last technique clash _"Suiton: Kirigakure no jutsu!"_ and thick fog engulfed the area, hiding him from Naruto.

"Interesting set of skills" the disembodied voice of Kakashi came from everywhere, and even with his even more enhanced senses thanks to his active magic he couldn't pinpoint the origin of the voice, or see more than one or two feet ahead of him, and the faint essence of the Cyclops was even more hidden by something infused in the fog, surely his catra "But you haven't got any bell yet, and I'm sure your teammates also want a chance in trying to get one, so I'll let you regroup with them, but I suggest you hurry up, time's not on your side this time" and the fog started to dissipate, along with any trace of where Kakashi could be, and not much later Sakura and Sasuke landed close to Naruto, said blonde only sighed and deactivated his magic, his slitted pupils returned to normal orbs.

"Hn, not bad dobe" Sasuke said, looking as disinterested as always, but inside his head a chibi version of him was punching a punching bag with a picture of a chibi Naruto smiling glued on it, while fuming and repeating like a mantra "Stupid-over-powered-dobe!"

"Shut up Teme, I didn't saw you helping here"

"Were you waiting for help?" he asked with a raised eyebrow

"N-no! Of course not!" he saw Sakura sigh and step closer to them, surely to try and made them work in a plan to get the bells, but then he felt something moving underground towards Sasuke, and acting on instinct he pushed him to a side, just in time for two hands to appear and grab _his_ feet instead of Sasuke's and bury him up to his neck, then the scarecrow jumped out of the ground next to him and crouched while giving him another of those annoying eye smiles… was that the only thing he knew to do with that eye? _"Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no jutsu"_

"Your time to plan is up, so I hope you are ready already, Ja ne" and then he shunshined away, Naruto groaned and shot glares to his teammates, at Sasuke for the snort and smirk, and Sakura for the giggles.

"Go and search for the scarecrow, I'll catch up with you later"

"Don't you want help getting out of there?" Sasuke asked/mocked still smirking, Naruto shot him another annoyed glare.

"I can get myself out of here, you go before we loose even more time" Sasuke just shrugged, smirk never leaving his face, and shunshined away; Sakura spared him one last glance before sighing and going after Sasuke, only once he was alone Naruto shunshined out of the hole and scowled at the afterimage there… Why had he jumped to protect the Teme? It was an instinct what forced him to do so, but why? He didn't interacted that much with him, or anyone else from the village for that matter, to act that way, but… he had been having this weird… _feelings_ ever since he arrived here, and even if that small talk with Kurama last night eased his troubled mind, he still found unnerving how natural those felt with the people from the village surrounding him, reaching to the point of even questioning himself, only one time he was really… REALLY tired, if he was already home; of course he noticed that right away and immediately stomped that minuscule doubt, but still… were this product of those illusions Kurama spoke about?

True, he promised he would not get mad at the people here, but playing with his head was something he would not stand… but first he would talk with Kurama, just to be on the safe side, maybe it was a work of only one and it would not be fair if he blamed everyone else for that.

Pleased with his reasoning and discovering, and filled with determination of being more aware to find who was playing with his mind he stretched and strolled to where he sensed the other two essences, both hands behind his head and looking to the sky, letting his nose lead the way

"Many worlds, but only one sky…" he repeated Kurama's words from yesterday, still looking at the sky… something about that was nagging the back of his mind, but he couldn't place his finger over it "Sky… same sky… stars… STARS!" realization hit him like a thousand bricks, and he was immediately summoning as many clones as he could, scolding himself for nor remembering something of THAT importance before "_Tajuu Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"_

Nearly 800 clones filled that part of the clearing and some of the forest, instantly searching something on the forest along with the original; he really thanked they were close to where he first appeared in this world

Some time later Naruto had to stop his search (of course his clones not) when one of the clones spared a glance to the clearing and found Kakashi fighting against Sakura and Sasuke, so he guessed they would need some help so he headed towards them, and arrived just in time to see the Teme finishing a small chain of handseals and cast his jutsu _"Katon: Gokakyuu no jutsu!"_ and a fairly big ball of fire (he had seen and eaten bigger of course) flew towards the scarecrow, and didn't thought twice to jump right in front of it once his stomach grumbled… again.

Blood was drained from everyone present at the moment when they saw, in their perspective, Naruto jump in front of the jutsu to shield Kakashi from it, Sakura even screamed his name in despair, but even greater was their surprise when after hearing a slurping noise they saw Naruto _eating_ the fire, and even burping once he finished, sporting a wide (and satisfied) smile while patting his belly "Man, I was really hungry, that totally hit the spot… good fire Teme, you have to let me eat one of those some other day"

Sasuke, Kakashi and Sakura stared wide eyed and gaping the scene before them, Sasuke's mind went totally blank after Naruto's last statement… let him eat _another_ of his jutsus? It was Sakura who finally got over the shock enough to make a question "Yo-you can _eat_ fire?"

Naruto gave her a deadpanned look "Well _duh_! I'm a _fire_ Dragon Slayer; of course I can eat fire"

Sasuke was about to ask something else, but one of Naruto's clone's jumped out of a nearby tree carrying a backpack in one hand "Found it boss!" that woke Kakashi from his shock, and not wasting time he threw the kunai he had on one hand to the clone, not wishing to risk anything against Naruto, but the clone had already threw a small golden _something_ to Naruto, and he caught it with one hand even before the backpack landed in the ground after the kunai dispelled the clone, and sighed in relief after carefully looking it.

"Phew, If I lost this Lucy would have been really mad at me…" he unconsciously shuddered after remembering something but shrugged it and extended his arm to reveal a small golden key on his hand, a weird symbol in white lines over a blue background on the head of it "Hope this works… now how did Lucy used this things?" and in a slashing motion he swung the key while saying "I open thee, door of the-"

"What the hell are you doing dobe?" Sasuke asked a bit winded, jumping back from surely engaging the cyclops while he was checking the key

"Summoning a friend, what else Teme?" Naruto answered quite irritated ant the obvious question, and for being interrupted on his experiment

"Guys, whatever you're doing hurry up, I need a hand here!" Sakura called after avoiding another strike from Kakashi and retaliating with a punch of her own

"Do the handseals dobe, you can't summon anything without the summoning seal" Sasuke said before jumping to join Sakura on the fight

"I know, I was about to do that" Naruto grumbled under his breath before biting his thumb and letting some blood pour so he could do the handseals properly, and after doing so, still holding the key between his hands, he slammed a hand on the ground and called "_Kuchiyoose!"_ the bright seal from the last time appeared under him rotating slowly, and this time the key also shone brightly, Naruto grinned seeing this and held the key in front of him; Kakashi clearly noticed this and made a quick substitution to free himself from them, and dashed towards Naruto to stop him before he summoned _whatever_ he was going to summon.

"I open thee door of the Lion, Leo!" he called doing again the slash motion with the key, and just when Kakashi was about to attack the seal stopped it's slow rotation, reacting to the command, and a bright light blinded him for a moment, forcing him to cover his eyes with his arms not letting him see the punch that was coming towards him

"I'm glad you're fine Lucy, sorry for leaving like that before but now I'm recovered enough to help" a soft male voice said with clear concern on it's tone

"Loke? Yeah, it worked!" Naruto cheered at first, but once his words finally reached him his face turned to one of concern "Wait, Lucy is in danger!?"

A young man dressed on a black suit with a white shirt, a red tie and black shoes stood there facing them, the most noticeable traits were on his head, where clear sunglasses covered dark eyes, and his unruly and spiky orange hair, even more than Naruto's, emulated the appearance of a lion's mane, with two pointy strands of hair that looked like cat ears poking over it; he turned to see the one behind him and his eyebrows frowned in confusion "Naruto?"

In the distance a clock alarm rang, the bell test had finished, and a pair of yellow eyes retracted in the shadows of the nearby forest, a malicious glint on them before they disappeared in the darkness.

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><p><strong>(AN): BAM! bet you didn't expected that! see ya' next week (hopefully... HAHAHAHAHA) ;D**


	7. Foreign allies

**(A/N): Aaaannnnd finally I'm back... really, don't hate me for the delay, I swear it was not intencionally, I kindda forgot to pay the phone and internet bill so I got the service cut down... yeah, yeah, I know what you are thinking 'So foolish to forget about such thing, shame on you Segaku' yeah, maybe, but this has been a couple of hectic weeks for me so don't really blame me for that, blame the troublesome real life... anyway, enough about my problems, here it is, a new chapter up :D I really suffered to bring this up so I hope you enjoy it , it may look like some kind of filler, but I needed this one to settle some things before bringing the final member from Fairy tail for this first arc to move to the Suna mission, yeah, I have some interesting things in mind for that with this Naruto on the rescue mission, but back to this chapter, here I bring you some NaruLu :3 nothing too romantic, but a cute interaction as a flashback anyways, I'm not _that_ used to such scenes but I try my best at what I do... now moving into REVIEWS!**

**Wow, 20 reviews, even if it's not as much as many other fics get I'm proud of myself for reaching that number, I did this as an experiment and for the heck of it, and now it brings some pleasant results, I feel somewhat acomplished... special hi to buterflypuss, you are now a usual reader and I thank you for that, also you Sjamie1398, thanks for the support, and a really huge cookie for loganhunter2 who bothered to leave a review for each chapter I've uploaded so far, and I'm happy you loved the story so far, makes me want to keep working on this despite whatever real life throws at me**

**Now this part is special for me, like I said this two last weeks have been preety hectic for me outside the shiny and happy world of fanfictions, and I almost threw the towel with this since ideas for this chapter and the next seemed to escape from me, but, even if you were a guest reviewer and I couldn't thank you personally (at least as personally as internet allows) if you are reading this Yuuki, thank you, really really thank you, that small review you left here telling me that even among the few good Naruto-Fairy Tail you've read (That you consider mine a good one already means a lot for me) nobody has even touches this kind of idea gave me the necesary confidence and determination boost I needed to fight against the increasing urge to just abandon this, if before I was determined to keep this going, now even if I have to be hospitalized I will do whatever I can to upload a chapter as soon as I'm able to, for everyone there reading this I will NOT leave this fic unfinished, if this is really something that unique I'm no one to take it away from you (Yeah, I know it sounds a little too pridefull, but that's how I feel right now) again, thank you a lot Yukki... and sadly no, the yellow eyes are not from Orochimaru, you'll find out in this chapter, now Jarvis with some anouncement**

**"Wow, really touchy moment there Segaku"**

**Shut up, tell what you have to say and don't let the people keep waiting for the chapter**

**"Okay, okay... geez, well, just to make it clear from now on every flashback scene in the fic will not be on the character remembering it point of view, it will be on an outsider third person point of view (cough, me, cough) and will relate what everyone in the memory says and thinks, of course it will still be the character's memory, but... well, you got the idea, back to you Segaku"**

**Fine, if that's all then here we go, play the songs I suffer to fit on the chapters, favorite, follow if you like the fic and review, those little messages you leave there are my fuel to keep writing despite everything, so REVIEW!, that being cleared... ON WITH THE STORY! :D**

**Disclaimer? really? you need one of this every time? why? I mean, it's clear I own nothig already created from Naruto or Fairy Tail, I onle own my own plot, nothing else, so whay keep telling this every chapter? Troublesome...**

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><p>Chapter 6: Foreign allies<p>

This was a gamble, he was being guided by some random words Kurama told him the previous night after all, but he couldn't shake this feeling that this could work… it was thanks to those words he remembered Lucy had entrusted him with the care of Loke's key just before the group headed to the Tenriou Island left Magnolia towards the port; he snickered remembering that Natsu could barely contain his excitement and flew with Happy towards the port after waving goodbye to him, clearly not remembering what 'departure by port' meant, oh poor, poor Natsu.

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><p><em>(Flashback)<em>

_(Play song: Kairi – Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Original Soundtrack)_

Naruto sat on the stairs in front of the guild building, he had already said goodbye to everyone and was about to leave for his next job when Lucy approached him shyly and asked if he could stay a bit longer and wait for her because there was something important she needed to ask him before both left, Naruto didn't thought twice before accepting.

Currently he was fighting with all his will against the urge to run inside the guild hall and shook Lucy until she told him what she wanted, the waiting was killing him and he noticed whatever she wished to tell him she wished to say in private, or at least far enough of the others to not hear… whatever that _something important_ she needed to tell him was it was driving him insane, but also made him feel like butterflies on his stomach at the idea that she wished to tell _him_ something important… sadly that only added more to his impatience instead of lessening it.

"Naruto!" she finally came out of the guild building along with the others and ran to where he was waiting on a side, and he only let out a shaky and nervous sigh before smiling

"Hey Lucy! What do you need?" once she stopped before him he noticed that shy smile she always had before asking something to others, and that sight made him feel warmth reach his cheeks and smile brightly "Don't worry Lucy, whatever you need I'm here to help you" that helped a lot because then she let out a small sigh of relief making him feel some of his anxiety also leave.

"Well, it's more like a favor that would mean a lot for me, and I could only think of you for it…" she said with a small blush and again looking shyly to a side after admitting that last part, Naruto's blush deepened a bit at that and his heart did a flip-flop in happiness while his chest puffed a bit in pride, Lucy noticed it and giggled.

"O-of course Lucy, just ask and I'll do whatever you need, we are friends after all and friends are there to help each other right?"

"Yeah, friends…" she sighed and shook her head before her hand reached for her key ring and took out Loke's key "Loke will be teaming with Grey for the S-rank trial and asked me not to use his key during it, and even if I trust myself in helping Kana reach the S-rank I would prefer to avoid temptations of calling him if we are on a tight spot, so… I'm trusting you in taking care of it"

Naruto just stood there looking dumbstruck and wide-eyed at Lucy, did she really trusted him _that_ much? Even to take care of one of her precious, if not her most important key? But it seemed that Lucy took his silence as a negative answer, not one she expected from Naruto, because then her face turned into a sad one before she turned around "S-sorry for that, I should have imagined you wouldn't be able to do that during your job… good luck" and then she started to leave

Only when he saw Lucy's back his brain managed to work again, and even if no words came out that moment he still reached for her wrist to stop her, he would never forgive himself if he made Lucy sad, and struggling for a second against his still not-worn-off shock finally words came out "N-no! It's not that I don't want to, but… those keys, especially Loke's, are really important for you, and I'm not exactly a careful guy so… I would gladly do it, specially if it's for you, but I don't trust myself to keep something _that_ important for you safe" he finished looking shamefully to the ground, expecting a really mad Lucy to say something if not leaving at that moment… he was such an idiot.

"Don't be a fool Naruto" her soft and kind voice chided him, making him lift his head to see that she was now facing him with a warm smile, and at the moment their eyes connected with each other both blushed again and looked to a side sheepishly "I wouldn't ask something like this to you if I didn't thought you were capable of doing so…" hearing this Naruto's head snapped to see her again, but she was still looking to a side with that cute blush on her face "O-of all the people in the guild, even if there are others more… cautious than you, besides Natsu I only trusted you enough to let you take care of the key, and even then I would prefer you a thousand times over him…" then she turned to see him again and extended to him the hand that still held Loke's key on it "So… will you take care of it for me?"

Naruto slowly let go Lucy's wrist and doubtfully reached for the key "Y-you, trust me?"

Her right eyebrow twitched, but she still answered with the soft, even if a bit strained, tone she used before "Yeah Naruto, I really, really, REALLY trust you" she guessed she exaggerated a bit there but with people like Naruto or Natsu it was better to be safe than sorry, and it seemed her assumption was right because then he smiled brightly to her (she emulated that smile, it was really contagious) and more confidently but still carefully he took the key from her hand and stored it on a pocket inside his backpack

Naruto felt happier than ever after that, Lucy TRULLY trusted him, enough to give him one of her keys confident that he would do a great job taking care of it, and he knew how much she cared for them so it spoke volumes on how much she valued their friendship; he was totally NOT going to screw this, so he stored the key on one of the safest pockets inside his backpack promising that he would really care for it, and he would clean it, and polish it, and- "Oh, and Naruto?" he gulped at the sudden _too sweet_ tone of her voice, and when he turned to see her she was with her hands on her hips and giving him one of those really scary faces (Erza approved) "Lose that key and I'll skin you alive before sending you to search for it"

"O-okay…"

"No, really, lose it and I'll summon Cancer and order him to skin you with his scissors, you understand?"

Naruto stood straight and saluted "Yes ma'am!"

Lucy giggled at the reaction and leaned closer to him landing a kiss on his cheek, leaving Naruto frozen on his spot while she run to where the others were waiting for her, with sly grins on their faces, smiling and waving goodbye; only once she was gone with the group Kurama floated out of the guildhall towards him, and seeing his current posture he rose an eyebrow "Did I missed something?" Naruto didn't answered, too shocked to speak, and slowly lifted a hand to where she kissed him, and then the brightest smile he could muster slowly appeared on his face: then he turned and grabbed one of Kurama's paws while practically shouting "Let's go Kurama! I want to finish this job as fast as possible to be here to greet them once they return!" and not waiting even for an answer he dragged him at full speed towards the entrance to the city, he only sighed and waited until he noticed he had left his backpack at the guild entrance.

_(End song)_

_(End flashback)_

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><p>The moment his clone returned with the key, and when he finally had it on his hands he felt like his soul finally returned to his body… if what Kurama said was true about the same sky in all worlds, then he should be able to summon Loke here and ask him for help, first with this test, and then in finding out how he got in this world and how to return back home… at least in theory, so when the key reacted to his magic he grinned and did the summoning chant just like Lucy did, and became ecstatic when the familiar silhouette of Loke appeared before him and when he heard his familiar voice "I'm glad you're fine Lucy, sorry for not returning by myself before but now I'm recovered enough to help you in the fight"<p>

"Loke? Yes, it worked!" Naruto cheered once he heard the familiar voice, but his happiness was short lived once his words reached him and his satisfied grin transformed into a worried frown "Wait! Lucy is in danger?" he didn't paid attention to the clock's alarm, or the defensive posture of the other guys there; not even to Loke's confused face when he turned and saw him there holding the key instead of Lucy, all that mattered to him at that moment was that Lucy was _there_ in danger while he was _here_ taking his sweet time to return home to help her because he was too busy here playing to be a ninja, so in his despair for being helpless at the moment he jumped to Loke and grabbed him by his shoulders, shaking him while demanding answers

"Where is Lucy! Is she really in danger? Why weren't you with her!? You… You said you would protect her with your life!"

Loke, who was confused enough as to why was Naruto holding the key that opened the door that summoned him, got even more confused by the frantic blonde that now was in front of him demanding answers about Lucy… what was he doing in the island? And how he managed to open his door? "Naruto, I need you to calm down and explain me-"

"Calm down? CALM DOWN? YOU JUST TOLD ME THAT LUCY IS IN DANGER AND YOU WANT ME TO CALM DOWN?!"

"CALM DOWN NARUTO! LUCY IS FINE DAMN IT!" Naruto was about to scream to him again but thankfully those words reached him on time and his despair was washed away in one relieving wave, Lucy was fine and he could trust Loke on that, he had proved his care for her before.

He slowly removed his hands from Loke's shoulders and a relieved smile, bordering on hysterics, came to his face "Lucy is fine?" he asked to himself and then he looked at Loke who slowly nodded, a confused frown on his face, and that made him sigh in relief and start to laugh, not being able to control himself after those tense moments "Lucy is fine!" he said and slumped to the ground, not really understanding why he was so worked up by the news some moments ago, but not really caring at the moment because all that mattered was that Lucy was fine, and by extent everyone else with her

Annoyance was replaced by concern when Loke saw Naruto's reaction, he had never saw the Dragon Slayer react like that, not even on dangerous situations, and even if the Grimiore Heart invasion to the island was something seriously dangerous, when he had to return to the Celestial world along with Caprico because of their injuries he sensed Laxus getting closer, so he guessed that with his help Fairy Tail would get the upper hand over the dark guild, and even if he was too weak to open his own door (being hit by his own Regulus after being possessed was something that would put a great strain on everyone, he guessed) he supposed everything was fine, his contract with Lucy was still active after all, she didn't even called for the other spirits after that.

He kneeled next to the still chuckling Naruto and shook him gently to take him out of his daze back to the real world, not minding the other tense three people there ready to jump at the slightest sign of danger "Naruto?" he asked softly "Naruto, are you ok?" he only nodded, no longer giggling but with a bright smile, that instantly turned into a confused frown.

"If you say that Lucy is fine, then why you spoke like she needed help the moment you appeared?" Now it was Loke's turn to be confused, weren't they on the Tenriou island? And wasn't the one he repelled before a member of Grimiore heart? Confused enough that he was bordering anger he forced his voice to come out calm and soothing, he needed Naruto calmed to get coherent answers, or at least one plausible explanation

"Naruto, what are you doing in the Tenriou Island?"

"Tenriou Island? We are not in the island Loke, I summoned you here because I needed some help" Now he confirmed he was the one who summoned him, and that they were outside of the island… now he needed to know where was _here_, how did Naruto managed to summon him and who were those other three standing on a side ready to attack but not taking the initiative, not that he was complaining about that, and was about to voice his first question when another familiar voice came from the nearby forest, making him turn and sigh in relief, if anyone (besides Natsu, Lucy and Erza) could make Naruto stop being senseless it was him.

"Oi kit! First you leave early and don't even prepare breakfast! If you were in a hurry you know Shadow clones can do that stuff for you; and then when I'm pestering the old hag for some food I feel you channel enough magic to take down a caste… again, what's the big dea-" he stopped when he noticed the other familiar face kneeled next to a goofy smiling Naruto, and a booming laugh (as booming as Kurama could manage on his current size) filled the clearing

"Well, if it's not the overgrown kitten" he said floating to Loke and greeted him with a fist bump that was gleefully answered in the same manner by the Celestial Spirit "It's good to see another familiar face after all this time… How you managed to find us? Did Lucy sent you to get us back home?" Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura focused their gazes on Loke, expecting that was not the case

"Well, I have not the slightest idea… Well, I know now that it was Naruto who summoned me, but still… and no, I thought you were already back at the guild, or at least heading back, I didn't knew you were lost" The three ninjas let out a relieved breath

"Well, you could say that"

"Which brings up my next question, _where_ are we, and _how _Naruto managed to summon me, or even more important, how he managed to get my key from Lucy?"

"I can explain the first one" Kurama said "but I have not the slightest idea about the second one… Naruto?"

"yeah, I can explain that one, but then you have to tell me what happened to force you to return to the Celestial world, I believe in you that Lucy is fine, you wouldn't be so calm if not, but I still want to know" Then he took a hesitating look "and, Loke?"

"Yeah?"

"Sorry… I-I don't know what happened but… when you said Lucy could be in danger… and me being so far from her to help… (Sigh) sorry if I scared or worried you…" Loke only chuckled and ruffled his hair

"Don't worry Naruto, you were just concerned about Lucy's well being, and the others too I guess" Naruto only nodded "Then there's no harm done, that even proves me that you really care for her, maybe as much as I do" Now Naruto blushed a bit at that, the realization he had a couple of weeks ago when he arrived here made him think about how much he REALLY cared for her, Loke continued not noticing the rosy color his cheeks had taken "I should even thank you, because now I know that I can trust you to protect her if one day I can't do so" The blush was gone hearing that and he smiled him while nodding, then he stretched a fist and bumped it with Loke, any problem between them was now forgotten

"Sorry to interrupt the family reunion, but I think we still have an schedule Naruto" Kakashi said, finally making his presence known with Sakura and Sasuke flanking his sides, ready to jump into a fight at any sign of hostility; Loke stood again along with Naruto , but his expression turned serious and made his fists shine with golden energy, also ready to jump into a fight; Kakashi groaned seeing this "Really? What is it with you guys and your fists"

Naruto snickered at the cyclops reaction and put a hand over Loke's shoulder trying to make him relax and giving the other three a look that also asked for the same "Don't worry Loke, they are… friends, I guess you could say" he said with a bit of hesitation on that last part that made Kakashi sweat drop and Sasuke snicker "Oh, and that's Sakura" he added as an afterthought, said girl was debating between hope that he actually considered her a friend and annoyance at being addressed in such way.

"But that weirdo with one eye was about to attack you when I arrived"

"Ehhh… the _weirdo_ can hear you" Kakashi said mildly offended, he had been called many things during his life, but 'weirdo' seemed to touch a soft spot on the usually uncaring Jounin, and the offence increased when they plainly ignored him, and he even saw that Naruto liked that new nickname the moment he heard it… oh joy

"Don't worry about him, he's harmless" Sakura and Sasuke sweatdropped at Naruto's answer… calling Kakashi no Sharingan _harmless_? Said ninja seemed to get depressed after hearing that if the gloomy dark cloud hovering over his slumped head was any indicator… everyone rose an eyebrow at this, when did the cloud got there?

"Then why he was attacking you?"

"Well… we were in the middle of a test to see if I had what's necessary to become a ninja"

"Oh, become a nin-WHAT!? A-are you defecting from Fairy tail?"

"Heck no! I would never do such thing! Look, the whole mess here is-"

"Let me explain that part Naruto, it would also be good if one of you muppets stayed here to help me explain this" the three ninja rose an eyebrow at the nickname Kurama used, while Naruto and Loke did a terrible job trying to muffle the snickers or mask them as coughs, in the end they would only choke themselves while trying and start laughing afterwards, this creeped out even Kakashi (Sasuke begrudgingly admitted it afterwards) and everyone decided it was time to leave, not wanting to know what a 'muppet' was

"I-I think my shift at the hospital will start soon, better be going" Sakura was the first of the three and dashed out of the clearing before anyone could said anything, shortly followed by Sasuke

"I've lost enough time here today, I'll go elsewhere to catch up with my training" he said before Shunshining away Kami knows where, now only Kakashi was left and he gave them an awkward eye smile before trying to make his escape

"I've got enough information about you three and the work as a team now, so I think I'll leave now and report it to Tsunade-sama"

"Oh, like hell you will also escape scarecrow" Naruto said Shunshining behind him and taking a small orange book out of his pouch while he was distracted by the afterimage that was already fading where he stood before (He still hadn't saw one of those yet) "You choose, stay and help Kurama explain this mess to Loke, or else…"

Kurama chuckled at the sight of the wide eyed and gaping Loke and Kakashi (he was sure he was gaping under that mask) once the afterimage vanished and both tracked the origin of the voice behind the cyclops, only to see a grinning Naruto with an orange book on one hand and another under said book, lit on flames and closing threateningly to it, the jounin was the firs one to react, and in a way that greatly pleased Naruto

"NO! nonononono please, not the collection edition with extra scenes and a personalized autograph by Jiraya-sama himself! He doesn't deserve an end similar to his brother… I'll stay and help, if you promise you will not harm him and give it back afterwards" he pleaded on his knees and let out a relieved sigh when Naruto turned the flames off

"I'll give it back only once you finish your part, I don't trust you to stay if I return it earlier" Kakashi eagerly nodded with his sight still locked on the small orange book on Naruto's hand "Geez, a week earlier I would have been freaked out by this, not even Levy would go to such lengths for a book"

Loke cleared his throat to get attention back to him, somehow managing to overcome his shock by the whole scene displayed before him, from Naruto's weird teleportation down to the weirdo's submission because of a book of all things, and face planted when said weirdo turned to him while standing, and stood in the same bored demeanor he was before like all that book stuff never happened on the first place, but still stealing glances over Naruto like checking if his precious book was still safe… indeed a weirdo.

"Thank you for your… willingly cooperation" he almost face planted again when he waved a hand in a 'no problem' gesture and curved his eye upwards, hadn't he knew better he would say that was a smile "Ooookayyyy, never mind… I think we haven't been formally introduced, my name is Loke and I'm the Celestial Spirit of Leo, the lion"

"Kakashi Hatake, Jounin of Konohagakure no sato"

"Konohagakure?" he asked turning to Kurama "Are we even still in the kingdom of Fiore?" Kurama chuckled awkwardly at this

"Ehhh… you could say that we are far, far away… better get comfortable for this" Loke nodded and turned to Naruto, who somehow was in the middle of a glaring contest against the weirdo

"Naruto?" the blonde only hmmed in acknowledge "Right now I'm here through the door you opened, so as long as I'm here it will feed up on you Magic power, so I'll return to the spirit world now and then I'll open my own door to return so my stay here won't be taxing for you, you used my key to summon me here, so I'm supposed to form a contract with you now, but my contract with Lucy is still active so I'll have to ask about that too, don't worry, I'll be back soon" and with that he vanished in a flash of light

"You heard him Naruto, he'll be gone for a while; why don't you give me back that book? I promise I won't leave" Naruto narrowed his eyes and slowly lifted the hand that held said book, the hopeful look Kakashi's eye took was whipped and replaced by an scared wide eye when Naruto again lit up his other hand under the book "You wouldn't dare…" Naruto narrowed his eyes even more until they were only slits and then closed his flaming hand to the book

"Try me" he simply said, and Kakashi's resolve was crushed when a flame managed to lick slightly the orange cover and left a small but noticeable black trail of it's passing, he slumped in defeat and Naruto grinned widely and turned off his hand "If we make to become a team, you'll teach me new stuff"

"Why? Don't you have enough with what you know already?"

"Loke has come here, which means there is a link between our worlds; I'm sure with his help we'll find a way back home soon, so I won't be around here for very much more time"

"B-but weren't you supposed to help us find Naruto?"

"Of course I'll still do that! I never go back on a promise, I'll still help you, but I won't be here all the time like now; I'm sure that there's a way to return here, just as there's a way to go back home, so once I find that I'll return to help you guys but now… It's been two weeks so far and I didn't had news about the guild until now, and that made me remember how much I REALLY missed them; If there's a chance to go back I'll take it even if it's just to say hi and tell them that I'm fine and where I will be before returning here to help… I can even convince some of the guys there to come here with me, I'm sure Natsu-nii would be more than happy to help"

Kakashi was about to answer but Kurama decided to add his five cents there "Yeah, don't get all gloomy on us now, you should be happy for Naruto that a chance like this one presented itself for him; besides this can make it easier for you to find a way to send us back home" Kakashi only sighed and nodded before giving Naruto an eye smile, then an idea occurred to him

"Ne, Naruto, this friend of yours will reappear here? Because if he can follow you I think I have an idea to kill time while we wait for him to return"

"He always appears near Lucy when he opens his own door, so I guess he has to appear close to his key or something like that… why?"

"How does the concept of water walking sounds to you?"

* * *

><p><em>(Play song: Organization XIII – Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Original Soundtrack)<em>

"We've found interesting news I'm sure you'll love to hear!" "**The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki has finally reappeared"** Two voices said from the darkness of a room, both voices came from the same source, one was light and cheerful while the other was dark and rough, two yellow orbs shone in their general direction

"Oh? So he has finally decided to come out of hiding and show himself again? Just in the nick of time, according to the planning the recollection was about to start too… I wonder what he could have been doing" Another voice spoke there, lighting on a gas lamp slightly, the dim light revealed only a cloaked silhouette with short spiky hair

"**I think he could have been sent away in order to train" **said the rougher voice **"By what we could see he has managed to master a peculiar form of Katon release that he showed while a quick spar he had against Kakashi Hatake, he didn't even needed hand seals to cast the jutsus, besides some disturbing ability that allowed him to… eat fire, and also a strange way of summoning"**

"Yeah! He was kicking the cyclops ass and he didn't even break a sweat! There was this cool one he did that looked like he actually breathed fire like a dragon!" The cheerful voice said giddy, getting a thoughtful 'hmmm' from the third one in the room, after an amused chuckle escaped his throat

"Interesting news indeed, I'm sure Nagato will find this new development most… amusing, not that it would matter in the long run, we'll need the other eight before so there's plenty of time to measure him and see if he's actually a threat, but for now just report this to Nagato and let him deal with the rest of the group"

"**Will you make your presence known then? If you are letting me give a full report to Nagato then you must be planning something already"**

"While I'll indeed step out of the shadows to have a closer approach to the incoming events, it won't be as myself since I need to remain unnoticed until the time comes to finally make my move; I should blame you for this, after all it's because of the information you just gave me that my curiosity has been… sparkled"

"I think you should just go and get everything done" the cheerful voice whined childishly "It's not like you are not able to do it by yourself, and all this secret organization game is getting really boring" the third voice chuckled darkly listening this

"You should know, Zetzu, that Madara taught me better than that…" then he made the lamp shine more, now illuminating the room where two people stood… well, more like one person and one plant-human thing that looked like a Venus flytrap, inside it a head could be seen with yellow eyes and two sides, one white and another black, while the human one had an orange mask with a swirl pattern that ended in a hole where his right eye was; both wore a dark cloak with a red cloud pattern on it that covered their whole body, leaving only visible blue Shinobi sandals visible on the masked one feet, and he spoke on a tone that sounded like a childish imitation of the cheerful voice from before "And Tobi is such a good boy!"

_(End Song)_

* * *

><p>Naruto went along with Kakashi to the Hokage's office after he, surprisingly for Kakashi, learned the water walking exercise in a couple of hours, but like Loke hadn't returned yet and like he didn't wished to lose sight of the scarecrow he followed him when he said he needed to report about today's test; Kurama decided to head for the apartment and wait there for them for when Loke arrived.<p>

"And my verdict is that he is ready, his strength alone is already outstanding, and even if I didn't saw then in a coordinated attack he didn't doubted a second to jump into danger to protect his teammate…" Naruto frowned at that memory, and added Loke to his mental note of people to talk about his suspicions "… that alone speaks a lot about his willingness to work in a team, and Sakura and Sasuke make a perfect teamwork, so I'm sure he'll fit there perfectly, therefore I deem-"

"Sorry if I'm late, I had a lot of homework and exams to check at the academy and the secretary told me I could just enter"

"Oh, there's no problem Iruka, actually I think you arrive just in time" Tsunade said with feigned please, she could see where this was headed and she didn't liked it a bit "Kakashi was about to tell Naruto the good news and I'm sure you would like to give him this" she said while taking out a Hitae-ate from a drawer on her desk, it looked worn but the metal plate still shone with the light, it was sewed to a long black cloth, and Iruka immediately recognized it as the Hitae-ate Sasuke brought back _that_ day… the one he had gifted Naruto the day he graduated.

"Hey Iruka, what is that thing Baa-chan gave you?" Iruka's eye twitched in annoyance, he was used to (and greatly missed) the affectionate tone Naruto had every time he called him 'Iruka-sensei', now thanks to his memory loss every time he called him bay his name, it sounded… blunt, and he just couldn't get used to that.

"This, Naruto, is something I'm sure you have earned rightfully, so with Kakashi-san permission" he looked at him and he nodded "I would like to give you your Hitae-ate Naruto, now you are officially part of the Konoha Shinobi force, congratulations" and then he smiled warmly and extended the hand in which he held the Hitae-ate to him.

Naruto lazily turned his gaze to the piece of metal strapped to the black cloth, but when his eyes landed on it his mind instantly went blank, something inside him demanded, screamed him to take it and tie it around his forehead, that it belonged to him and with it he would be complete, but unlike previous times he couldn't shake the feeling off because it was simply overwhelming.

_(Play song: Roxas – Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Original Soundtrack)_

"Come on Naruto, take it" the soft voice of the scarred teacher in front of him distracted his eyes from the piece of metal, no… _Hitae-ate_ and forced them to focus on him, for a moment he forgot who he was, but didn't really forgot him, he knew the person before him, but there was a name, a feeling lacking… Iruka, no… _Iruka-sensei_, acceptance, friendship, care… he couldn't fight against that simple suggestion that felt more like a kind order, and slowly his trembling hands reached for the, no… _his _Hitae-ate and carefully held it on his two open palms, the leaf symbol engraved on it being carefully caressed by his thumb.

Glazed eyes looked beyond the metal plate in front of them, into flashes of something foreign that seemed so personal at the same time…

"_My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I'll become Hokage one day, believe it!"_ My name…

"_You want to know why people hate you? It's because you have the Kyuubi sealed inside you…" _What I am…

"_He is not the fox, he is Naruto Uzumaki, ninja of Konoha and… one of my precious people" _Where I belong…

"_I don't know why I did it, my body moved on it's own…" _Who I care for…

"_I'll bring you back to the village, even if I have to break every bone in your body" _My goal…

"_My name is Tsunade Senju, and I am the Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato!"_ Who I helped…

"_I believe in you Naruto, It's a father's duty to believe in their sons after all" _My family…

"_And with a tiny but loud cry you were born in this world…" _My family…

"Are you ok Naruto?" a new voice took him out of his trance and he saw another foreign yet familiar face he struggled to remember; Scarecrow? Cyclops? No… Weirdo? No! Kakashi? Yes, no… _Kakashi-sensei,_ respect, care… _betrayal…_

He struggled to say something as weird images flashed on his head, and orange mask, red clouds, tailed beasts, red eyes, purple eyes, a leaf, sand, mist, clouds, rocks, swords… so many that his head started to hurt "Where… Iruka-sensei… Kakashi-sensei…" he said through gritted teeth while holding his head with his fists, the Hitae-ate still on one of them

Both nin eyes widened after hearing their names being called in that so familiar and missed way, and were so shocked by the idea of Naruto finally remembering them that they froze on their spot and did nor say anything to him, sadly for them in that moment Loke appeared in a flash of light next to Naruto

_(End Song)_

"Okay, now I really need some explanations because according to what… Naruto, are you ok?" That voice, he knew that voice, he had grown up with that voice… Loke, yes, his friend, his guild mate, his nakama, his family… and like that the pain in his head was gone, along with the foreign memories, like mist blown away by a strong gust of wind, leaving behind just uncertainty of what the hell happened the moment he spaced out, and why he spaced out in the first place.

"Y-yeah, I'm just a bit… confused, we were talking about something but then I spaced out… hey cyclops, what were we-" Kakashi was just staring wide eyed at him, and on it he could find something that looked like… hope? "Hey Iruka, what happened to the scarecrow?" He asked not turning to him, still trying to figure out what was so attractive of him to have the scarecrow eye locked on him, but when no answer came he turned to him, only to find him in a similar state "Iruka?" was this caused by what they were talking about? What they were talking about!

"Naruto?" He turned to see Tsunade-baachan after she called him, and couldn't help but rise an eyebrow at the sight, she looked pale and… worried? "Naruto Dragneel? Is that you?"

"Well duh! Of course it's me, who else?... What's going on guys? It looks like you just saw a ghost… there aren't any ghosts here right?" Now Tsunade's face regained color, and looked relieved, just what were they talking about? Was this because of that? Well, at least now Iruka and the scarecrow looked somewhat normal compared to before

"Maa, relax Naruto, It's just that for a moment you just froze there and we didn't knew what to do, right Iruka-san?"

"Y-yeah, we were just worried about you Naruto… are you fine now?"

Naruto accepted the excuse, even if it sounded lame even to themselves, mostly because he didn't wished to dwell on that much, there was still an explanation pendant for Loke "Yes, I feel fine now, but what were we talking about before? It's kindda white n' foggy and I can't remember whatever it was"

Kakashi pointed to the piece of metal on his hand with an eye smile "We were discussing on how you did a great job during the test and that now you are part of the village as a ninja, we were giving you your Hitae-ate" he looked down at it and felt a funny feeling on his gut, but shrugged it without a problem and sighed tiredly

"Now I'm in a team with the Teme and the cyclops… huzza!" he drawled with mock enthusiasm before shrugging and storing the Hitae-ate in a pocket of his pant "Well, if that's all I think there are some explanations that are needed to be done, ne cyclops?"

"I think I won't go with you right now, I'm sure Tsunade-sama wishes to have a more detailed report, right?"

"Oh no, of course you won't scarecrow" and grabbing his and Loke's shoulders he shunshined them to his apartment, missing the relieved and disappointed looks on Tsunade's and Iruka's eyes

When they arrived at Naruto's apartment a couple of seconds later Loke was green, trying to keep whatever he had on his stomach inside while Kakashi looked slightly dizzy "I must say that's even faster than what I'm used to, good work Naruto" said blonde smiled before leaving the hall/kitchen to look for Kurama on the bedroom, and giving Loke some time to recover and make his surely spinning world stop.

A bit later he re-entered the hall/kitchen along with Kurama, who smirked at the sight of the still green Loke, who even if looked still sick was good enough to speak without worries of introducing his lunch to the others (or at least that was he thought) "What happened overgrown Kitten? Don't tell me you got sick after that small dash, geez, and one would think that you being used to dimensional travels could handle more than that…" Kurama teased him while shaking his head in mock disappointment, Loke only glared at him and tried to answer, I repeat, tried, but as soon as he opened his mouth he immediately closed it and puffed his cheeks in a way that could make a chipmunk jealous

"Hey Loke, are you at least good enough to listen what we need to tell you?" He turned to him and nodded while also glaring at him, Naruto raised his hands in a placating manner "hey, sorry for not warning you but if I didn't did that the scarecrow would have escaped, besides I also had to get used to it the same way you are right now until I learned how to do it" well, actually it was his clones who had to get used to it, but Loke didn't needed to learn that little detail "but don't worry, I'll teach you how to do it later" Loke held the glare for a second before closing his eyes while releasing air through his nose and nodding, he sat down on the nearby couch and, still not opening his eyes, made a movement with his hand signaling them to start speaking

Kurama was the first one to speak, making clear that now they were on a different world at which Loke only nodded, and once that was cleared he explained how they were sucked into this world and how they ended in the village (the version he made up for Naruto of course) and how here there was another Naruto the people from the village were looking for since he disappeared four years ago, and how Naruto made a deal with them that he would help them find their Naruto and they would help him find a way back to Earthland; after that Kakashi explained how before Naruto could actively help them he needed to become a ninja of the village in order to avoid problems, the training he went under and how today he finally gained his Hitae-ate and now he would be recognized as a Shinobi of Konoha all the time he wore that Hitae-ate; after hearing all this, the now clearly not nauseous Loke finally spoke

"I see… that actually explains a lot of things that were told to me on the Celestial world, but there's still the question of why Naruto had my key and how he managed to summon me here" At this Naruto breathed deeply before telling Loke what he needed to know

His explanation was clearly shorter than Kurama and Kakashi's one, being only about how Lucy entrusted him the care of his key before they went to the Tenriou Island and then about Jiraya teaching him summoning through the toads, at Loke's risen eyebrow he explained that there were big toads, huge toads that could easily step over them if not being careful; and then how he used the same method to summon him during that test with his key

"Interesting… was there something else about those summons? Like any extra requirement or a special token to summon them?"

"No… well, besides the blood needed for the handseals there's nothing el… wait, now that you mention it the pervert said something about Uzumaki's name being signed in a contract or something like that when he summoned this really big toad he called Galabuda I think, can't remember the name well… I guess me being Uzumaki's counterpart here allows me to summon them by that contract…"

"Actually…" Kakashi said rising a hand like asking for permission to talk "to clear a couple of things here, first the name of the toad boss summon is Gamabunta, not whatever you called him Naruto, I'm sure he would take offence on that" Naruto grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head at the pointed look Kakashi gave him "And secondly, I don't know how summoning works for you Loke-san but-"

"Just Loke, I don't really like honorifics, those make me feel old"

"Well, you are a Celestial Spirit" Naruto pointed "Some are older than Lucy so I can only guess your real ag-hmmmppffff" His mouth was covered by one of Loke's hands, while he turned to see Kakashi with an eyebrow twitching, said Jounin found the scene amusing but decided against saying something about it, he had learned enough about pissing people with overpowered punches already with Tsunade, better not test his luck with this one

"Like I said, only Loke please" he said once Naruto stopped struggling and wisely decided to shut up

"Okay then, Loke, like I was saying summoning here is quite an exclusive… privilege" then he did a couple of handseals and in a poof of smoke a normal sized scroll appeared between his two only extended fingers "Here we work with… blood contracts you could say" he unrolled the contract and what took their attention was the signature and palm imprint on it, both on a weird looking red ink.

Doing the handseals required and drawing some blood Kakashi summoned his favorite ninken, which appeared in a poof of smoke; the small pug lifted a paw to greet them once the smoke cleared "Yo! What you need me for this time Kakashi?" but said cyclops ignored him completely and kept explaining.

"This is Pakkun, one of my summons, and even if I raised and trained him and the rest of the pack I decided to make them summoning instead of simple ninken, that way they will always be ready to assist me when I use a burst of my chakra to summon them" he then re-rolled the scroll and made it vanish in a poof of smoke "Minato-sensei was a seal master, and he was the one who helped me create the contract for my ninken, I can explain what I know about it's working if you wish" Loke looked positively interested on that information and nodded, Kurama was next to him also eager to listen, after all he also became a forced summon a long time ago, and even if it was against his will, he fell the need to know about his previous status.

For some more time Kakashi explained Loke and Kurama how summoning worked on this world, why it was needed a written contract that was life-long and why it was important a signature with blood on said contract, along with many other things that Loke and Kurama seemed to find interesting, but he and Pakkun found utterly boring, first him because he understood little to nothing of what they were talking about, and then Pakkun because he knew all that stuff by memory, so to kill some time while the other group finished their conversation they decided to talk about random things, reaching a point where Uzumaki was brought as a topic and the small pug told him what he knew about their Naruto, the missions his team went to and the impressive, even if few, achievements said blonde genin accomplished before he disappeared and that only fueled his desire to meet him.

Once Kakashi finished his explanation he stated that it was a bit late (indeed, it was already dark outside) and he still needed to deepen his report with Tsunade, so he dismissed Pakkun and patiently waited until Naruto finally gave him his little orange book back (he actually cried in relief once it was back on his hands and hugged it like a long lost son… creepy in Kurama's opinion, and Loke and Naruto found one more reason to keep calling him weirdo) before he shunshined back to the Hokage tower, leaving Loke, Naruto and Kurama alone on the apartment.

"Now everything is clearer, at least for me" Loke said after a thoughtful silence between the three "In order to make a summoning in this world you need a link between the summoner and the summon, that link being that blood signature on the contract scroll; but you" he said looking directly to Naruto, who squirmed a bit under the serious (and a bit annoyed) look of Loke "Had my key with you and used it as the link to bring me here by doing that 'blood payment' you have to do while doing those weird figures with your hands"

"Handseals"

"Whatever, so by doing that you also formed a link between us on _this_ world, that's why the Spirit King told me that the moment I appeared here a contract was forged immediately, but I still have my contract with Lucy active because it was forged back in Earthland… funny and weird as it sounds now you're a bastardized version of a Celestial mage, but one nonetheless, and I'm your first spirit… congratulations I guess"

"Hehehe… thanks?" Naruto grinned sheepishly and scratched his cheek with one finger in embarrassment, probably Loke was now angry at him because this mess caused some kind of problem with him

"Meh… don't worry about it, guess it's better it was me rather than Aquarius or Taurus, those would have been really a handful for you to get along with, we are already friends so there's no problem by my side… do you have any?"

"N-no! I mean, it's cool ya' know? Now I have something in common with Lucy, and she can help me understand all this Celestial mage thing if I need some help and you are busy, because you said your contract with her is still active right? I guess we both agree that she is your priority over me" Loke nodded and sighed before giving him an amused and friendly smile

"This is by far the weirdest thing that has happened to me… two contracts? If you have told me this yesterday I would have laughed on your face and said that Erza punched too hard this time and made you delusional, this is the first time something like this has happened ever! Even the Spirit King looked surprised while he explained this to me" Kurama snickered hearing this, Naruto always had a tendency of making impossible things happen, heck, if turning from being a ninja to being a mage tutored by a dragon of all beings wasn't a clear sign of that then he was a harmless koala

"Soooo, can you tell me now if you have some way to take us back home? Or at least any idea? I can't say I disliked my time here, the guys here are good people, even if they are a bit… eccentric you called them Kurama?" the fox nodded "But I really can't wait when time to return home arrives, I learned a lot of cool stuff here that I want to teach it to you and-" he was cut off by Loke when he raised a hand and looked at him seriously

"Tomorrow I'll take you two with me to the Celestial world to have an audience with the Spirit King, he'll be more capable of explaining you about why you could be here and… how we can help everyone that was at the Tenriou Island"

"B-but you told me that-"

"They are fine and safe, the Spirit King assured me that himself, but… something happened during the S-rank trial that ended in them being caught in an… special situation, the Spirit King can tell you more about that himself since I didn't saw how it finished because I was forced to return to the Celestial World, but they are fine like I said so don't worry about that, but they still need our help since only us can do that for now" naruto seemed to think about it for a second before locking his azure orbs with Loke's eyes and nodding, burning determination shining in them decided to help his family in whatever problem they were caught in… Lucy, Natsu… he would help them no matter what, all the guys there were his family and they were his priority

After the mood lightened from the previous seriousness Naruto blessed Loke and Kurama with his cooking, who enjoyed it even if it was ramen again, much to Kurama's dismay, and waved him goodbye before he returned to the Celestial world to tell the Spirit King about his new findings and confirming that they would assist the meeting he called for.

That night both inhabitants of the apartment barely slept, one really excited at the idea of being one step closer to returning home and helping his family in whatever 'situation' they got caught, while the other, even if also happy at the idea of being sooner to return home, was also full of fear and uncertainty wondering if that meeting the next day was really a good idea, Loke said that the Spirit King could know why they were here, and even if the chances of him knowing the truth about Naruto's origins were dim he couldn't help but wonder… "What if he already knows about Naruto's previous life?"


	8. A favorable solution for everyone?

**(A/N): Hey guys, new chapter on the programed date again (yay!) and now that I have some extra help I hope that can continue... yes, I finally deciphered how the Beta reader works and I found one (yay! again :D) all you guys say thanks with me to stormei kittie for her help on this last chapter, she's helping me with the Fairy Tail side of the fic, so if anyone wishes to help with the Naruto side I'll gladly accept the help, the offer is open until the next chapter is up... or until someone decides to take their time to help me**

**Anyway, this week only 3 reviews u.u, but I don't mind that much, after all I make this because is something I enjoy and I hope you also enjoy... for you loganhunter2... sadly i'm not a big fan of Harems, so you won't be seeing any of that here... but the idea of a Yamanaka doing a mindwalk is indeed good, don't know why I didn't got it before... nice going :D (Oh, about him staying in Konoha in the end... you'll have to wait to see if that happens in the end)**

**And we start with some of cannon Naruto developement along with an extra apereance of Fairy Tail, the last one for this first part, and I hope you find my explanations satisfying**

**"Oh, really, like he said before Segaku likes Kingdom Hearts a lot, so here's a little... minigame I will play with you, in a couple, if not more, of the previous chapters some quotations have been added in the history, so for anyone there who can tell exactly which ones and in what games of the serie they appear I'll award with... a cookie! (lol) nah, I'll award letting you decide which of your favorite villians of Fairy Tail appears first in the fic, like some kind of a more 'reader-participative expirience' for you all according to Segaku... I know, I know, He's awsome like that (avoids an egg thrown at him) Hey! I'm only the messenger, he puts the words in my part of the a/n"**

**During this week I'll also update a second 'Echoes of war' and I want you to tell me which one you wish, I'll let you decide between Lee, Sakura or Tsunade... the rest are heavy hitters so I'll let their complete histories for later, but with brief mentions on the chapters like you'll see here, well that's all for now, favorite and follow if you like my... our humble work (I'm not forgetting your help kittie) and REVIEW! please?... ON WITH THE STORY! :D**

**Disclaimer: Nah, too lazy to write it, believe what you want for this week (Except me owning Naruto or Fairy Tail)**

* * *

><p>Chapter 7: A favorable solution…for everyone?<p>

(_Play song: Xigbar – Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance Original Soundtrack_)

Nine shadows with human shapes were gathered in a dimly light room. Their forms could barely be seen with the scarce illumination. They seemed didn't pay attention to that little detail since every pair of eyes-varying in color (and shape) were focused in the shadow that had two purple orbs with a circular concentric pattern in either of them. Their stoic and impassive sight towards the others signaled that their owner possessed a higher rank among the others present.

"I have summoned you again after these four years of preparations. This is because according to recent reports, the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki has been sighted back in Konoha. This has signaled the start of the next stage of our plan and the recollection of the Bijuus just in time of our original projections. Your teams will remain as they were originally formed." the purple-eyed man said, ignoring the loud groan and two heavy sighs he heard.

"So you already know your missions. Itachi, Kisame, Zetzu will meet you in your current location to brief you on the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki current status. It seems he had undergone a special training and Zetzu possesses information that can help you accomplish your goal of capturing him."

One of the shadows- the one with red eyes bowed slightly and it's silhouette vanished from the room, while the one next to him spoke in a tone that clearly expressed amusement, "Oh? Well then, I hope the brat now proves to be a worthy opponent, unlike our last meeting…" he trailed off and then it disappeared while his chuckle echoed.

A couple of yellow eyes also retracted on the darkness of the room after a nod from the purple-eyed man.

"Sasori, Deidara, you are to start the hunt by capturing the Ichibi Jinchuuriki as soon as you are ready, since we can't capture the others without sealing it first. Hidan, Kakuzu, you are to locate the current position of the Nibi Jinchuuriki meanwhile and wait until the Ichibi is sealed to capture it. You are dismissed." with that said, the speaking shadow vanished along with the silent one next to him, leaving the 4 remaining ones alone in the room.

"We are leaving, Deidara. I need to contact any surviving sleeping agent in Suna if we wish to enter without being noticed. According to my spy network they have been having…_unfortunate_ accidents since a group of Konoha ninjas arrived in the city. I will also need to check on my Konoha spies to figure out how they knew about them. I have no doubt it's their doing but, I must be sure of how compromised my network is and if I need to create a new one to avoid more information leaks…" a hunched shadow said in a guttural tone to the one next to him before vanishing.

"I like more the idea of a fast and quick strike, Sasori-Danna," the shadow suggested to the empty spot next to it before sighing, defeated, "at least now the world will enjoy my art once again, un." and then it vanished just like the rest.

"Fucking great, now everyone else gets to kill people except us. Now, what will I be able to offer to Jashin-sama?" one of the remaining shadows cursed, clearly annoyed, while the one next to him grumbled in annoyance.

"Shut up Hidan, the leader told us to trail the Jinchuuriki, but said nothing against collecting some bounty on the way… I'm aware that the Nibi Jinchuuriki is a Kumo-nin, and there are some quite interesting bounties on the Land of Lightning, so stop whining or I'll cut off your head…again. I know one day I'll find a way to finally kill you."

"Oh, you shut up! What do you think you know, you big palooka?!" Hidan sneered at him before his shadow vanished from the room, leaving behind only his partner's shadow which was chuckling darkly.

"What do I know?" he said with amusement lacing his voice before also vanishing.

Once the room was totally empty and silent, a man stepped inside the dimly lit room. A lone red eye shining with a dark pattern on it.

(_Change song: Organization XIII – Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Original Soundtrack_)

"So the game has finally begun." he mused, "It will indeed be a memorable spectacle to witness, especially since now we have a new piece on the table…don't you agree?"

The soft tap of a cane touching the floor could be heard along with footsteps coming closer, and then a second person appeared on the room, standing in front of the red-eyed man. With the dim light illuminating the room, you could make out the edges of his face and body which was mostly covered in shadows, but glints of bandages and a green, tattered robe could be seen.

"I don't really care about your schemes, Uchiha. I'm only accepting this offer because by weakening the other villages, Konoha will regain her supremacy over them. The moment you decide to target her, consider our deal null and myself as an enemy." a calm and collected voice came from the new person on the room.

"I find your warning quite ironic since my end of our deal is helping you attack Konoha and allow you to seize power by force."

"Sacrifices must be done in order to achieve a greater goal, we, as Shinobi, know this. That is, assuring Konoha's position over any other village, minor or mayor, a goal that is worth any and every sacrifice."

The red eyed shadow nodded and stepped closer to the one in front of him, placing a hand over it's shoulder, "Then, we shall leave. There's much we have to discuss…Danzo-san."

Then, they both disappeared having been sucked into a swirl created by the red eye, which shone with a malicious tint of red before vanishing.

(_End Song_)

* * *

><p>The morning came too slow for Naruto's liking, who despite having slept less than a couple of hours, was still full of energy and excitement at the idea of meeting someone who could help him go back home faster…but, on the other side of the coin, his fox friend looked like he could barely keep his eyes open, even least maintain himself floating on the air. Naruto found this amusing and worrying at the same time.<p>

"Hey Kurama, are you feeling fine? I mean…you look like shit." Naruto stated bluntly.

Kurama snorted and yawned before answering, "I feel like shit, kit. Last night I could barely close my eyes." the fox replied tiredly, then deciding that flying was too tiring at the moment he returned to his spot on the couch, "That stuff Loke said about the others needing our help had me worried."

Well, it was partially true, he indeed was worried about the rest of their dysfunctional family, but the main cause of his insomnia was the plaguing worries about the Spirit King discovering Naruto's truth, and unveiling it to him.

"Don't worry, Loke said they are fine and you know we can trust him on that. Why don't you take a nap now? Meanwhile, I can prepare breakfast and wake you up once it's ready, what do you say?"

Kurama nodded and made himself comfortable on the couch, a nap sounded like a wonderful idea at the moment, and he let his tiredness wash over him, submerging him into sweet sleep. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was Naruto smiling to him and waving goodbye, and then he fell asleep with a smirk on his muzzle.

For a moment, Naruto considered making ramen for breakfast, but in the end he decided against it after remembering that Kurama didn't liked the idea of eating it every day. Then seeing that he was quite tired, he opted for making something special for him. So, he prepared the stew-thing he made the first time he cooked here (It had actually been some kind of experiment since most of the original dish was lost the moment the kitchen exploded) and once it was ready he went to wake Kurama up, but when he saw him there sleeping peacefully he decided to let him continue sleeping and wake him up when Loke returned.

After he finished his food and stored Kurama's part on the fridge, an ANBU appeared just when he was about to do the dishes, startling him and making the bowl he was holding fly through the room and crash on a nearby wall.

"What the hell?! Don't you ninjas know the meaning of privacy?" he said while reaching for a broom to clean the shards of the broken bowl. Thankfully, Kurama was still sleeping on his spot at the couch

"I'm sorry Dragneel-san, but with all due respect you now are also a ninja, and I would suggest you use your Hitae-ate to signal it and avoid confusions as a civilian, especially on training grounds"

"Huh? This metal thing?" he said taking the Hitae-ate out of a pocket on his pants and holding it on a hand, "Yeah, yeah. I'll see where to use it later, but now tell me what you came for, I don't think you are here only to remind me that."

"Indeed, Dragneel-san. Hokage-sama has summoned you along with team 7 for a meeting with the council, and she expects you to be there immediately." Naruto sighed tiredly before putting the shards on the trash can and glanced towards Kurama.

"Does Kurama also need to be there? I would really prefer if he could stay and sleep some more time, he was really tired this morning."

"Hokage-sama didn't said anything about Kurama-san, so I guess there's no problem about leaving him here."

Naruto nodded and took a nearby scroll, ripping a piece out of it to leave a small note on the table for his friend if he woke up before he returned. Then, he turned to the ANBU and nodded, the ANBU put a hand on his shoulder and took him outside the council meeting room with a shunshin.

* * *

><p>There, he found Sakura, the cyclops, and the Teme already waiting for him, and had to raise an eyebrow at the annoyed expression on the usually bored eye of the weirdo, "What? First time someone makes you wait?"<p>

"No, first time someone forces me to be on time. Anyway, this better be done with fast, I hope today we can start duty as Team 7."

That moment the door to the chamber opened and another ANBU signaled them to enter. The team did as told and entered into a circular room that looked like an auditorium. They were currently standing over a circular platform in front of many rows of seats posed in a half-moon formation, escalating in height as they separated from the center of the room.

In the first row in front of them, Naruto recognized Tsunade-baachan sited next to Ero-jiji, he hadn't seen the pervert since the day of their…discussion. Even if he no longer had problems being near him, it seemed that he didn't felt the same way, if the way he avoided his gaze, but still sometimes stole guilty looks to him was an indicator.

Next to him he saw someone who looked like an older version of Shikamaru, from the pineapple head down to the 'I would rather be sleeping' attitude, maybe someone familiar. And next to him, there was a man wearing white 'traditional clothes' whatever those were, for him it looked like some male version of the bathrobe Lucy usually used since he and his brother decided to make surprise visits to her home after they returned from a finished job and she was stepping out of the shower…weird that the people in this world used that on the streets without problems when back in Earthland Lucy would never dare to go outside her home wearing that.

Anyways, focusing again on the room he noticed that now the man on the male bathrobe was stoically returning the focused gaze. He had long black hair and hardened features on his face, his eyes looked like he was blind since they were all white and pupil-less, but he knew he could see him all too well, "Do you wish to tell me something Uz…Dragneel-san?"

"Eh? Oh, no, It's nothing, just that… are you family of that weird girl called Hinata?"

The whole room sweatdropped at the bluntness of the question and Tsunade facepalmed…to call Hinata weird in front of her father? Next thing, he would call Kakashi harmless in front of a potential threat or something like that.

Kakashi sneezed.

The guy he thought was Hinata's relative raised an amused eyebrow before answering "Indeed, I am a…close relative of her, and I must say that I find your comment of her being weird quite…unpleasant, may I ask why you came to this conclusion?"

"Well, she never hangs out with the rest of Uzumaki's friends when I'm around." He started listing what he said with his fingers, "Sometimes, I've seen her unconscious on the ground when I exit the training grounds after training and had to take her to the hospital."

Well, he didn't mentioned that usually he took out his waistcoat and scarf to train more freely, but he didn't deemed that important at the moment, "Sometimes, while I'm walking and we are close to cross paths she turns red when I greet her and starts to run elsewhere…"

Now he started to tap his chin like trying to remember something, not noticing the embarrassed and the now-not-that-stoic face of the Hyuuga, and the smug grins the other people on the room were directing him.

"There was also that one time that Kurama told me he found her standing outside my apartment with those creepy veins bulged around her eyes while I was taking a bath… oh, there's also that time when-"

"I think that's enough Dragneel-san" the Hyuuga interrupted him a bit hurriedly, trying his best to ignore the chuckles and whispers around him, he would have a long talk with Hinata later that day, "And I must say that indeed my daughter's actions had been…weird"

If not outright creepy and perverted, that would explain her recent streak of visits to the hospital due to blood loss, "I hope her actions haven't bothered you."

"Nah, I'm kinda used to that, back in the guild there's this girl called Juvia that also does all that kind of stuff to a guy called Gray becau-"

His nonchalant demeanor was quickly replaced by a series of reactions that followed each other in mere seconds. First, there was realization, followed by surprise, then amusement which immediately changed into dreadful realization if his widened, surprised and fearful eyes were an indicator, accompanied with blood leaving his face and his mouth staying opened, unable to articulate word, and fearfully he turned his gaze to the amused Tsunade, "You said those weird eyes could see beyond even walls, right?"

At her smirking nod, he became even paler and whimpered, suddenly feeling like hugging himself, "I feel violated…" he muttered more to himself, but most of the room could still hear him.

At that moment, a woman seated on the second row of seats exploded on laughter, she had wild-spiky hair and marks on each cheek that looked like red fangs, "Oh Hiashi, I didn't knew little Hinata had it in her, indeed the shy ones are always the most dangerous!" she managed to say before laughter overcame her again, reaching the point of having difficulty to breath.

"I must agree with Inuzuka-san." another voice spoke on a composed, even if a bit amused tone.

He was totally covered by a high collar jacket under a bigger hooded cloak and dark sunglasses, "Why you ask? Because it's weird to hear about a Hyuuga acting in a so...inappropriate way." if he was smirking while saying this, it was covered by the high collar of his jacket.

"I must also agree with Tsume" another guy said.

This one looked like an older version of Chouji dressed on a full red armor adjusted to his…bigger body, he was also laughing loudly, but his sounded more composed than the other woman's one, "Maybe we should make Kakashi, or even Jiraya-sama become her new tutor."

The whole room shared a laugh after hearing that, well, everyone except Naruto, who paled even more at the idea of that pervert tutoring someone like Juvia…at least he found solace on Hinata's relative, his face covered by his hands in shame told him that he was also against that idea.

"Okay, enough with the teasing everyone." the Shikamaru look-alike said with a lazy smile, earning him a grateful look from behind the hands of the Hyuuga once the laughter stopped...only to make him slam his forehead on the desk in front of him in a very un-Hyuuga display of anger and embarrassment because of his next words.

"I'm sure Hiashi will have his job cut for him once Hinata gets her hands over Naruto here."

If the laughter originated by this statement was strong, it only increased after Hiashi's reaction and Naruto's even paler face, his tone now could make Orochimaru's skin look like he had sunburn.

But despite the comical situation Naruto and Hiashi were in, Tsunade, Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura didn't found Shikaku's last statement funny in the slightest, and couldn't help but frown when the memory of a distant (and hopefully never again coming) war time came to their minds, when a confused and frightened Hinata turned her back to the healing heart of a blonde genin because he was not the one who reached her in time, and how it was too late when she realized that she had misunderstood her feelings and tried to correct her mistake.

"Even if this whole situation is pretty amusing and funny." Jiraya finally said, taking pity on Naruto and Hiashi, "I think it's time to focus on more serious matters, like the reason of this meeting."

Hearing this, everyone sobered and the room felt silent again, and only once he was sure the mocking had totally stopped, Hiashi lifted his head from the desk and put on his stoic mask on again. Just that this time, a medium sized red spot on his forehead (where he hit the desk) ruined the image.

"Very well, this meeting was addressed to introduce the new team Kakashi to the ninja council." Tsunade said, "Naruto here has volunteered to help on our search of Naruto Uzumaki due to his importance to the village, besides other personal reasons I'm sure means no harm to Konoha."

"He has been admitted on the village's ninja force and rightfully earned his Hitae-ate, but we still don't know what rank give him. Kakashi, Tsunade and I can give testimony of his prowess in the few jutsus he has learned and mastered, and his own set of skills is already something else…sadly we know that strength alone is not enough. So, Shikaku?"

"I can arrange something…there's a decree on the village's law that allows the Jounin commander to give an automatic promotion to whoever he deems worthy of it by a test he sees convenient to test his or her skills. It has not been used since war times because, well, quick promotions to skilled but inexperienced young ninjas has proven to be not one on the brightest ideas, but seeing this one is an exceptional case it can be applied, now the question that remains is how to test him…"

"If I may suggest something Shikaku-san, I would say that a fight would be a good idea." Sasuke said, earning the attention of everyone present, "During the test Kakashi put our team under, there was a moment he went on a solo fight against Naruto, and was pushed to retreat in the end despite having his Sharingan active."

This perked the attention of more than one, Kakashi's legendary Sharingan beaten by an unknown?

"What I have in mind is some kind of endurance fight with some of Naruto's graduating class. We know that by the time he disappeared he was on equal ground with many of us, so this would show us how much difference is between our Naruto and this dobe."

Naruto glared at Sasuke before opening his mouth to finally voice his opinion, "Hey, hey, hold on a second here. If you haven't noticed, I'm still here and you are talking about my future here like it's nothing I have opinion in."

"You don't want to fight against us? Last time I asked you seemed pretty excited at the idea."

"I can handle all of you any day you want, and you know I'm not talking about that here Teme…I'm here helping you on a deal I made with Baa-chan and I only agreed with this ninja stuff to make my help easier for you to deal with and don't bring problems for you like you said it could happen, heck, I even decided to play along with all that amnesia thing only to make dealing with my presence here easier for you, but right now it looks like you consider me only one more of your village's weapons, just like any other ninja, and that only because of this." he said taking out the Hitae-ate he was given the previous day, "I'm going to swear loyalty to you and do whatever you wish for your village's sake."

Everyone on the room fell silent after that. Actually, they believed that if they ranked him that would be a reason to make him stay in the village and force his loyalty…it seemed that it backfired

"That old pervert made it clear the day we spoke about Uzumaki, he told me that I wouldn't understand why you made his life a living hell because I am from another world and I would not comprehend your reasons, well then, I also have my own reasons to do this," he threw the Hitae-ate he was holding on a hand to Tsunade, "and you won't comprehend them because you are not from my world."

Jiraya felt like banging his head on the desk at that moment, now he regretted the easy escape he took that day. He should have confronted his regrets that day and finally do a good thing for his godson, he still remembered the blonde child he met that day on the Onsen all those years ago demanding training…and now that same boy had no idea of who he was, and that day he confronted him for the failures he committed against him thinking that it was against another person, and instead of at least trying to mend things now that he didn't remembered him, he escaped like a coward, fleeing from the growing list of wrongs he had not cared, or was too afraid to face that he did to the boy.

He should have confronted the fox that day. He saw the fox's reactions that day and instantly knew that all that other world thing, even if maybe it was true, was in the end something the fox was using to hide the truth from Naruto, because he was Naruto Uzumaki, son of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, his godson and…his greatest failure, if that day he had forced the fox to tell the truth the boy he met all those years ago would have returned, calling him Ero-sennin and ranting about how he was a pervert, but looking up to him with respect and happiness each time he offered his help to him in becoming a better ninja…he even thought about taking him as an apprentice in a long term training mission outside the village…but now this boy was refusing all that the kid he wished so much to have back desired his whole life.

He was about to say something, anything to make him change his mind and not refuse his father's legacy, but just as he was about to open his mouth light filled the room for a second, and when it died a man dressed in a black suit and with orange messy and spiky hair was standing next to Naruto; immediately he along with a group of ANBU and the clan heads were ready to jump over the intruder, but Tsunade raised a hand ordering them to hold their place.

"What is it with you and your literally flashy entrances?" Kakashi grunted in an annoyed tone while rubbing his blinded eye, at which the newcomer answered with a sheepish chuckle and scratching the back of his head.

"Sorry Kakashi, Celestial world policy, not my call." then he turned around and saw the tense and ready to strike clan heads (not that he knew their status) and leaned to Naruto's side and spoke not taking his eyes away from them, "Did I came in a bad moment?"

"Nah, I'm sure we were already done here, is the Spirit King waiting for us?"

"Yeah, he has just sent me to take you…where is Kurama?"

"He was pretty tired in the morning, and I let him sleep some more time, can we go without him? I'm sure whatever your boss wants to tell me I can tell him later."

"My boss?"

"Well, he's the Spirit King and you're a Celestial Spirit, sooo that should make him your boss." Loke seemed to ponder this reasoning for a moment before shrugging.

"Yeah, sure, never considered it from that perspective but I guess you're right…not that it matter in the end but it's good to know, you ready to go? The Spirit King is waiting."

"Okay…wait just a second."

He turned to Tsunade, who was patiently waiting for them to finish, unlike the rest of the people in the room who never before in their lives were so openly ignored. Jiraya and Kakashi maybe being the exception but annoyed nonetheless, "Hey baa-chan, I'll go with Loke for a while to see if his boss know how to send us back home, if Kurama comes searching tell him that I'll tell him whatever we find out later once we return."

Now, he turned back to Loke and nodded, "Okay, now I'm ready to go."

The said spirit put a hand on his shoulder and then both disappeared in a flash of light before anyone could say anything.

Tsunade sighed tiredly while massaging her temples, from being Hokage to deliver messages for Naruto, great, "Well, it seems this meeting is postponed until first; Naruto returns from wherever he's gone, and second; we convince him that we don't want to control him, nice going Shikaku, Jiraya and Sasuke…(sigh) I'll try to talk with him later once he returns, after that if I manage to convince him we'll try a different approach, dismissed."

Silently, she was pleased with the meeting outcome, but she still needed to be on the others good side. Not even once she believed most of the council were interested on Naruto's well being, they only saw him as a possible overpowered weapon against other villages if they managed to make him stay.

Clearly, their plan of using his integration to the village's shinobi force as an anchor backfired, she would convince Naruto to stay for a little more but not to please them. Before she send him back she would give him his father's legacy, something she was too pressed to do the last time by a fearful council, and then with Pein's invasion all was lost, this time he would have his father's help becoming the legend he was meant to be.

* * *

><p>When the light died down, Naruto found himself amazed by the sight before him, he was standing next to Loke on a huge platform with white pillars that held no roof. The said platform seemed to be floating on the space, if the endless sea of darkness filled with stars was any indicator. On the platform along with him were all the spirits he had seen Lucy summon before and in the center of it was someone huge, easily of Igneel's height if not taller, dressed in a mix of robes and armor with a huge sword strapped to his side and a helmetcrown that covered his head with a star design in front of it and two huge horns sprouting from the back part of it; the most attracting features of his face were the two big crystal-like red eyes and the huge weird looking moustache coming out of his face, since everything about the guy was huge Naruto guesses this was the Spirit King.

"Are you the one called Naruto Dragneel?" he spoke with a deep and booming voice that made Naruto loose his voice and weakly nod in confirmation.

Even just his voice screamed 'super powerful guy here, do not piss off' and seeing (somehow) his answer the king spoke once again, "You have come to find some answers, as well as to satisfy my curiosity about you so I will ask you now, which of your questions you wish to be answered first? How or why you were taken away from Earthland? Or what happened to your friends?"

Naruto did not even ponder on the options before answering, "I want to know about my friends and how to help them." he said without a trace of doubt on his voice and with fiery determination on his eyes.

At such sight the Spirit King nodded with a small smirk before turning his gaze to Loke, "Very well, you will explain him your knowledge first Leo, then I will explain what we recently found out" Loke nodded and turned to Naruto with a serious expression on his face that told him to listen and shut up.

Loke told him what he could remember about his run through the S-Class mage trial with Gray in the island until things went south with the attack of Grimiore Heart, he explained what he could collect about the dark guild before he met with Lucy and had to fight against Capricorn, the celestial spirit of Capricorn, and found out that he was actually possessed by a mage called Zoldeo, and he ordered Lucy to leave and help the others while he stayed back to defeat him.

"…In the end I managed to hit him with my Regulus, but the mage jumped to my body then. Luckily, Capricorn absorbed my Regulus and used it on me to force Zoldeo to leave my body and finally disappear since he had no body to posses. Both Capricorn and I were too damaged to continue so we had to return here to recover and then return to truly help later, but after that no spirit was summoned again by Lucy, and since our contract was intact we guessed she was fine, besides…"

Now he chuckled, "When I had to leave I sensed Laxus nearing the island, so I was sure they were fine."

"Laxus? But how? Makarov-jiji expelled him from the guild!"

"I have no idea. I'm just telling you what I know…now like I told you before, only until the moment you summoned me I thought everything was fine, and I thought that my inability to open my own door to the island was thanks to some spell casted by someone of Grimiore Heart during the battle, but then the rest of Lucy's spirits started to feel their connection with their keys weaken, but their contracts with Lucy were still active, so worried about what was happening they did a research along with the Spirit king while I was away with you." he stopped talking and glanced towards the Spirit King, who nodded signaling that he would continue the explanation.

"My old friend is fine, along with the rest of your friends, but they are trapped in some kind of breach in time and space."

"Breach? What are you talking about?"

"I'll try to make it simple for you." Loke said, making Naruto turn to him, "Think of it as some kind of prison where they don't age and time never passes, but they are also frozen inside of it, unaware of what's happening outside, and once they finally get out for their perception not even a second has passed since they entered, but years could have passed by…they are safe inside but they can't get out at will."

"And how much time they will be trapped there?" Naruto asked quite worried, sure, they were safe, but if they could not get out…

"That is unknown, it could be a couple of minutes from now, or like Leo said it could take years before the breach runs out of energy." The spirit king answered causing Naruto to pale in concern, years?

"But there is something we can do to help them get out of it…but at a high cost for you."

"I don't care, I will do whatever it's needed to help then get out of that place!" Naruto said, totally convinced of his words, he would do anything for them.

"I see…well then, tell me Naruto Dragneel, would you willingly trade your only chance to return to Earthland for a way to take your friends out of the breach?"

That caught Naruto off guard and made him rethink his words for a second…would he willingly trap himself and Kurama forever in this new world for a chance to free his nakama from that prison that could keep them forever inside? No…he would only trap himself in that new world and send Kurama back to Earthland to free his nakama, _that_ he could do.

"I would do that only if Kurama is still able to return, I would never force him to stay back with me when all our friends return back home…It may be a selfish decision but I would never allow my first best friend to have an unhappy life because of me." Naruto said with total confidence of his decision, earning warm and friendly smiles from every spirit on the platform (even Aquarius) and making the spirit king chuckle lightheartedly.

"I told you, he was worthy of the honor." Loke said to his boss, while smiling and ruffling Naruto's hair with a hand, much to the blonde's confusion.

"Hey, hey, hold on a second…why is everyone smiling? Is the idea of me never returning home that entertaining?"

(_Play song: Friends in my heart – Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Original Soundtrack_)

"Not everyone can become a celestial mage, old friend," the Spirit King said on a more cheerful tone, even if his voice was still deep and intimidating, "before a contract can be forged I must deem if the mage is worthy of the spirit, be it in terms of strength, intelligence or, the most important for us, if he or she can befriend and take care of us."

"But when you summoned me into that new world a contract was instantly forged without the Spirit King being able to judge you, and even if most of us already knew you would be a good summoner he still wished to be sure if it himself."

"You, old friend, have shown me that you value friendship more than even your own desires and that is a virtue we Celestial Spirits value and cherish above all other aspects, just like my other old friend, Lucy." he then smiled widely to Naruto, who looked like he just won the lottery (which in some sense he did, not every day you gain the favor of a god-like cosmic entity)

"Thereby, Naruto Dragneel, I deem you worthy of the title of 'Celestial Mage' and may every spirit you forge a contract with through their keys help you in your quest"

Every spirit present cheered hearing that, and such acceptance made Naruto feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

"Now I officially share a contract with you Naruto, and I could not me more proud of it." said Loke

"Leo has told me about you Naruto Dragneel, and I would also enjoy forging a contract with you if Lucy-sama allows it." Capricorn said while walking towards him along with the other golden spirits.

"I'll be moooooooore than ready to help you protect Lucy's body." -Taurus

"You will be a good new summoner Naruto, ebi." -Cancer

"We think that too, we thing that too." -Gemini, the twins, said as one

"Tch, just try not to be as annoying as that other blonde." -Aquarius

"You're strong, and I'll enjoy fighting by your side, yeah!" -Scorpio

"As long as you stand by Lucy's side, I'll stand by your side, moshi moshi" -Sagitarius

"If the princess allows, I would also like to forge a contract with you, prince…should I be punished?" -Virgo

"I-I would also l-like to h-help you N-Naruto-niisan, g-gomen" ended Aries, and even if the silver spirits said nothing, they all gave Naruto a supporting nod, signaling that they were also willing to help.

"Everyone…thanks." he then turned to the Spirit King, who was smiling brightly at the scene "So then, I won't have to give up returning to Earthland to help the others?"

(_End song_)

"No old friend, you can still help them and look for a way to return, but…"

"There are some good news and bad news regarding how you were sent there, as for the why…we have no idea." Loke said.

"There are a million reasons as to why and we can't be sure about which one could be right, but we are certain of how you ended there, and a way to exploit your situation to help your friends, so I feel the need to ask if you wish to know the good news first or the bad news." the spirit king said, and waited for Naruto's answer.

"Well, I guess we should start with the bad ones and save the good ones to lift the mood later, so tell me the bad news first." the spirit king nodded understanding his reasoning and started his explanation.

"The distortion in time and space that sent you to that world was specifically made for only you and your friend, someone on that world was aware of your existence in Earthland and aimed to take both of you for an unknown reason, like I said, there could be a million reasons, and created that distortion in a way that it could not be reversed to take you back to Earthland, so basically you are stuck on that world for an unknown amount of time."

"Wow, those are…really bad news." Naruto said, downcast and a bit shocked by that revelation, "So some random guy maybe is replicating his own version of the Anima and found Earthland, and seeing me and Kurama decided to test his new toy just for the heck of it?"

"Maybe, maybe not, like the Spirit King said there are far too many reasons for your situation, but we are sure that the distortion was made by a human, but enough of that, don't you want to hear the good news?" Naruto nodded absentmindedly, still thinking of why he was chosen along with Kurama, but when the Spirit King spoke again he focused on him.

"Even if that distortion cannot be reverse engineered, it can still be used to help your friends," at the confused look Naruto gave him, he explained further, "Somehow during your extraction from Earthland some of the estrange energy it emanated reacted with your own and some sort of…link was created, even if it closed after you crossed it you can still remotely open it on Earthland, of course the chance of doing that by yourself is simply impossible since your reserves of magic power are not big enough, but with someone else's help you can replicate the effect, even if in a much minor scale."

"According to what the Spirit king found out, that distortion is strong enough to be opened inside the breach containing our friends, so the good news is that we can take them out of that breach and bring them here or that other world until we find a way to return to Earthland." Loke said to Naruto, earning a beaming smile from the blonde as an answer.

"So, we can take them all at once and bring them here?" he asked excitedly to the Spirit King, who chuckled and shook his head in a negative way.

"Not yet, old friend, like I said before with enough help you can reopen that distortion in a smaller scale, the original one would have been able to do so, but yours will be able to transport only one person with the current help you'll get, because if you attempted something bigger the distortion may open, but would close before they could make it to this side, and that would be worse than their current situation."

Naruto gulped and nodded, he would play safe if his nakama security was on the line.

"I told you only us could help them, including Kurama, because only us have the guild mark on this world; the mark is more than just an insignia you see, it links all of us members of Fairy Tail to the tree on the Tenriou Island and with one another, and we can use that link to single out one of the people inside the breach and bring her here."

"Her? You mean…?"

"Yes, we will bring Lucy first, with her help and her spirits backing her up, and also with Kurama's help we will be able to bring the rest of the guys in only one go later, so are you ready to bring Lucy here?"

Naruto blinked confusedly at that, already? Loke seemed to notice his confusion, "Of course that if you don't feel ready to try it we can do it later."

"No, it's not that, just that it's all kinda too fast right now…now I know someone dragged me to that world along with Kurama and it was not just an accident, that our friends need our help, there's also the stuff of me helping find Uzumaki, that now we'll need to stay even more time to find a way to bring all of the guys we are going to rescue from that breach back to Earthland…but there's going to be time to worry about that later, now I'm all on this, so how do I activate this portal thing?"

"Focus on the one you want to bring here and feel the link between you by that mark." The spirit King instructed him and Naruto nodded, concentrating on it until he felt that connection with Lucy and the others trapped there, there was Natsu, Levy, Makarov-jiji, Laxus, Freed, Bixlow, Evergreen, Gajeel, Wendy, Cana, Gildarts, Elfman, Lissana, Mirajane, Juvia, Gray, Erza, Happy, Charle and Panther Lily, but right now he only focused of Lucy, the rest would need to wait for now, "Don't worry guys, I'll rescue you too."

"Done, now what?"

Now Loke put his hands over his shoulders and the Spirit King kept directing him, "Imagine yourself grabbing that link and pull it towards you here, the rest should happen by itself."

Naruto nodded once again and did as told, and as he pulled he felt how his reserves started to deplete, along with Loke's if him starting to breath heavily was any indicator, but he kept going nonetheless.

He struggled for what seemed like hours when only minutes passed, and in the end, with almost depleted reserves and Loke about to pass out behind him he made one final pull with all his might, on that moment he felt something activate, like when he used his magic, but this feeling was alien to him, and then the space in front of him distorted like a swirl _bending reality_ itself at its will, and some kind of portal opened there, big enough for a person to fit on it.

It was like a hole made in the air, pitch back in the inside…and a second later a familiar face stepped out of it, with long blonde hair tied in a ponytail and wearing a white blouse with a blue miniskirt and brown boots, looking around with big curious and confused brown eyes, once she totally abandoned the portal it closed, stopping the drain on Naruto and Loke's reserves.

"Naruto? Where are…is that Loke?" she noticed all her spirits there too and only once she turned around she noticed the huge entity there, smiling widely at her, "Gah! The moustache guy! What is going on! Where is everyone else!?"

With what little strength Naruto had left he ran to the confused and freaked out Lucy and hugged her as if they had been away from each other for years, "Lucy! You're fine!" he chirped and started laughing like a child in a candy store along with every other spirit there while Lucy struggled to free herself from his arms to no avail, and deciding to wait until he got tired and/or decided to release her she let him hug her a bit tighter, wondering what was going on, and why she wasn't dead after Acnologia's final attack.


	9. Echoes of war - Tsunade

Mini chapter: Echoes of war – Tsunade

Tsunade was once again alone in her office. She had sent Shizune home some time ago, but had decided to stay behind to clear her desk for the remaining paperwork. The reason for this was of course so that she could have some free time the next day - it had nothing to do with the fact that she would manage to hide a bottle of her high quality Sake from the eyes of her apprentice.

As she downed another cup of the beverage, she let silent tears run from her eyes. Nobody was there to see her crying, and she did well not to make a sound to prove it. However, sometimes this was the only way she knew how to cope with all the blood on her hands… War meant bloodshed no matter which side you were on, and that the ones fighting it weren't the ones responsible for it but the ones directing it from the safe seat, not caring that they led their soldiers towards their demise.

She had high disgust for blood; her previous hematophobia was test of that. However, as the Hokage she had to deal with the fact that she would have to send out ninjas everyday to something that might be their very last mission. Death was never pretty. You could die in so many different ways, but not a single one of them was anything but horrible and final. In some cases it was seen as necessary, but still; it wasn't pretty

The war had raged on, and as it did, the chance for her men and women's safe return decreased. She already knew that there were so many of them that would not return home, and that they, at the end of the day, would die a painful death surrounded by nothing but the familiar screams of their comrades. As a medic she couldn't help but feel disgusted; not only about the situation, but also about herself. If she'd gone out there to help them fight, then many of those lost lives would have been spared, but she hadn't. She couldn't have. As the Hokage she was needed at the control center beside the other four Kage.

She hated blood but she dealt with it the best way she could. It helped that she didn't have to see any of the bodies left in the trail of her orders… Never the less, that hate soon transformed into terror knowing that the blood could be the blood of someone she held dear.

Many times she cursed Naruto for forcing her into accepting the position.

Downing another cup, her mind wandered back, or ahead was it?… she didn't know nor care at this point. Still it brought up a memory she had tried to bury in the depths of her subconsciousness; never to be remembered. Sadly, her seemed to be of a mind that was a good time to look into it. After all Naruto had finally returned to the village after so many years.

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><p><em>(Flashback)<em>

"Baa-chan, I know it's dangerous, but I must go with the attack teams this time. Gaara and Bee-ojisan are helping as many ninjas as they can, each on different fronts, and you know I can take care of myself."

"Please understand, Naruto. This is no longer the same situation as in the beginning of the war. Now, besides having to deal with Kabuto and his Edo-tensei, there's someone out there with enough power to control _six_ of the tailed beasts along with their Jinchuuriki. Not only that, but there's the hordes of that white freak with the ability to transform into anyone – and don't forget about the full powered, reanimated corpse of the real Madara Uchiha. All of them rampaging different battlefields; decreasing the number of our forces as if it was nothing but a game. This mission is way too close to their headquarters, and if our intelligence is right, then this is more like a desperate suicide mission with only slight hope of finally bringing Kabuto down."

"I… I know, but… I couldn't help Gaara because you prohibited me to join the protection team when they headed to Suna. Neither I was able to convince Shikamaru, and because of that Iruka-sensei and Moegi… they-they… Konohamaru is not the same anymore, and when I talked to Gaara earlier, he still don't feel worthy of the Kazekage-title anymore. It's all because I couldn't help them. I failed them Baa-chan!"

"You didn't failed anyone, Naruto! The object of this war is to protect you and Bee. I have told you-"

"But I could help! Ever since the real Madara appeared you've kept me locked up in the village. It makes no sense since you know having me here puts everyone in danger. Who knows what will happen if they decide to come for me? What if they do the same thing Nagato and ravage the village just to reach me? Even the Raikage allows Bee-ojisan to fight because he knows the power is needed! Why won't you let me then?!"

"Naruto, I-"

"TELL ME WHY I CAN'T HELP MY FRIENDS, DAMN IT!"

'_BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO ALSO LOOSE YOU IN A WAR!_' She wished to scream to him, '_Because this selfish old woman doesn't want to loose another 'younger brother' because of Konoha or anything related to her! My heart wouldn't survive another blow like that!_' However, she would never say such thing to him. It wasn't because she thought it wouldn't make an impression, because she knew it would, but because she agreed with the general public that Naruto was too soft for his own good and needed to harden his heart to be able to survive out there. Tsunade would ensure that, but she wasn't sure this was the best moment to do so.

This war was the perfect situation to make Naruto face the fact that there was far too much evil in this world, and that some of this evil resided in those fighting at his side. That ninjas never had been the most moral people, and that many of them had some… distasteful habits during fights, and especially when it came to deal the killing blow, but she wished to shield the blonde from such perverseness. He still held some childish innocence inside him, some shard of that pureness that made him who he was, and that made him capable of relating to anyone and even befriending foes. However, Tsunade feared that if she exposed him to the full horror of this war, it would be forced mercilessly down on him, and he would become a full-fledged Shinobi… She didn't wish that for him, so she decided to give him a taste of that harshness herself in a safe environment.

"Remember who you're talking to, Shinobi." She said in a cold tone that immediately froze Naruto in his spot. "I am the Hokage of this village, and you are just another ninja under my command. Whether or not I choose to use you, a tool, is my decision and you have no say in that. You are simply to obey my orders, is that clear?!"

"Baa-chan…" Naruto spoke with a trembling voice, and in the corner of his eyes, tears had appeared. The sight pierced the woman's heart with guilt, but she kept going on - this was something Naruto needed.

"It's Hokage-sama to you, Shinobi. I have been too lenient with you for far too long due to your status, but it's time you learn your place in this village, genin Naruto Uzumaki"

"But baa… Hokage-sama" Naruto regained some of his composure and tried to reason with Tsunade, understanding that _this_ time he had made her really mad. "You know I can take care of myself - I was strong enough to defeat Pain after all and I can-"

"Stop this nonsense, Uzumaki. Have you told it so many times to yourself that you are starting to believe your own lies? You, Naruto Uzumaki, are weak. The only thing that makes you special is that the nine tailed fox sealed within you and that it's chakra is flowing through you veins. _That_ is what healed you. _That_ is what gives you all that chakra you possess. It's that demon that has allowed you to overcome all those difficulties and that helped out previously. It wasn't your strength, Naruto. Without the nine tailed fox, you would have died a long time ago. Without it you wouldn't have been anything." She took a deep breath, trying to calm down. Then, before she knew it, she spoke without thinking, the words flowing on their own. As they escaped her lips, she knew that they would be the ones to hunt her forever.

"The fact that you've relied on that demon's chakra your whole life has made you weak. If Minato and Kushina could see you now… They would have been deeply ashamed of you."

Naruto's expression looked as if he had taken a kunai to the heart, only to have it twisted around inside of him. Tears fell silently from his eyes, and his body was trembling. Unable to even whimper, as his voice abandoned him, he took a few shaky steps backwards as if trying to escape from her, only to trip in his own feet and fall backwards onto the floor.

Tsunade looked down at the boy, but instead of helping him get up like she had done many times before, she turned her expression into a mocking one before finally landing the final blow.

"Clumsy even in your escape… You are still the same idiotic brat that came looking for me all those years ago. You are still someone that is unable to protect even himself without relying on the fox chakra… Pathetic."

Naruto flinched as her words hit him, and before Tsunade knew what happened, he buried his head between his knees, hugging his legs, and he started crying. Not silent crying, but crying as the boy Tsunade had just compared him to – a boy that was crying because he was frightened and didn't understand why the whole village hated him.

That's when Tsunade realized that she had gone too far.

"N-Naruto, I… I didn't…" The expression on Naruto's face as he looked up at her hit her as a stone. He looked just like him - as the brother she had loved so dearly. As he raised his head it was as if she saw her little brother's ghost in front of her, his eyes blaming her for his own death.

His eyes were dull and hollow… empty… devoid of the usual sparkle of happiness in them. It was like if he was trapped in a genjutsu but unaware of it; not struggling against its hold. And as he spoke, his voice… The best way she could describe it was dead… It was as if he had died in front of her, and what was now talking was just an empty shell, which had reanimated only to take Naruto's place.

"I understand, Hokage-sama. There is no need for you to apologize. You… You are totally right in your claims, and I will work hard to fix that flaw to your content" He drawled mechanically while getting back to his feet. Tears still fell from his eyes, but he seemed no longer to care about them, and simply wiped them off his face before walking through the door. Left sat Tsunade, alone, and without a word of goodbye.

_(Flashback end)_

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><p>The bottle of sake had emptied when her mind returned to the present time, unaware of when she had downed the last cup of it. She could still remember how she'd chased after Naruto immediately after the door had closed behind him. Time after time she had apologized while holding him close to her. It seemed to work, because the life seemed to return to his eyes and his mouth once again turned into a small smile. However, it seemed that she'd hit a sensitive nerve, because he had constantly referred to her as 'Hokage-sama' since then and until the moment she stepped down from her position. Even so, she could see it in his eyes that he would forever doubt her. That he would always wonder whether what she told him was the truth, or simply something she'd said out of kindness.<p>

Tsunade sighed. She needed to clear her mind, and she only knew of one place that could do that for her. It was almost funny that it was the exact same place Kakashi had went to mourn for years, thinking that the one who caused the war they escaped from, the one that brought so much pain was dead and he would find solace watching his name for hours there

Without another word, she turned off the lights and walked out of the Hokage tower, heading in the direction of the memorial stone

When she arrived she was slightly surprised to find some of her fellow time travelers present as well. By the chakra signatures, she could sense the others approaching too, and soon everyone were once again gathered. The last one to arrive was Shikamaru, and as he joined them, they just stood there in silence, all of them thinking about their guilt.

"What the others think is best for him, my ass" she said a while later, making everyone turn to her with confused expressions. Their expressions turned into shocked ones as she took a piece of a porcelain mask out of one of her pockets and placed it on the top of the Memorial stone. She had waited far too long for anyone of them to act. However, as things looked now, it was way past time for them all to stop acting in the shadows and finally for what was truly the best for Naruto.

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><p><strong>(AN): Well, first of all I must thank WinnifredArtemis in helping me with this mini chapter, since my other beta had to leave because she no longer had time to help, so everyone say thanks to Artemis :D**

**Then I must apologize for taking so much time in uploading something here, It's been a kindda busy week so only now I was able to upload this... expect chapter for this weekend nonetheless, I'm gonna do all I can to be on schedule this week**

**This is going to be something new I'm gonna add in some chapters now, it like a 'Musical recomendation' I'll make. It's going to be the song that inspired me to write the main part of the chapter, or that I enjoyed the most while writing it... this time it's going to be both , so first the one that inspired the chapter: Aqua from Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep... I meant this chapter to be sad, dunno if I achieved it, because at the moment I was a bit down myself, and then I heard this one on the playlist and bam! idea up... I didn't knew where to put it (and personally I don't like adding songs on the Echoes of war, I feel that it breaks the image of seriousness I try to put on it) but if you want to play it while reading it, go ahead, it might be interesting**

**Then the one I enjoyed the most while writing it: Fade to Black from Metallica... I can't say much about it, just that it started to play, and then I pushed the repeat button and heard the same song until I finished writing and sent the capter for revision to WinnifredArtemis**

**Now... This is going to be something I'm going to do only once, answer a review here... not gonna happen again (unless it's a good question like this one) so dont expect it... 'does Naruto has dragon antibodies that prevent him from turning into a dragon? or is kurama preventing him from turning?' Well... neither of those... totally answering it would spoil the surprise so I can only say that if you are up to date with cannon Fairy Tail (manga I mean) and you pay atention to the first chapter you will find _half_ the answer... if you found the answer, please don't spoil it for others and wait to see how it developes**

**Next... For those out there that wish to know a bit more about Naruto and Lucy on Earthland (and I mean a REAL romantic interaction) check the oneshot I made for a Writer's challenge about the White day, it's really fluffy and diabetically sweet, so read it under your own decition, if you don't like that stuff then don't... Maybe I'll add the missfortunes of Naruto finding those gifts here as an Omake later**

**Finally (preety long Author note eh?) maybe some previous chapters are going to undergo a revision and improvement under the eyes of WinnifredArtemis if she has spare time to do so (hope she does) so go check tue author notes on them from time to time, I'll put there an update note if that happens... well, nothing more comes to my mind right now, so I'll leave for now, Enjoy this little piece of sadness and angst before balancing it with fluffyness and sweetness with the oneshot, and review, favorite and follow if you like OUR humble work. See ya' :D **


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